


I'd Rather Laugh with the Sinners than Cry with the Saints

by PhantomGirl1731



Series: The Ballad of Case Howlett and Bucky Barnes [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-01-31 15:02:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 34,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18593686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhantomGirl1731/pseuds/PhantomGirl1731
Summary: Part Two of The Ballad of Case Howlett and Bucky Barnes, the sequel of sorts to "Flashbulb Memories" - I suggest reading that first, to get a feel for the situation. So, what did happen in Siberia? We've seen snippets from Case's memories, but what's the full picture? This story takes place in 2013, a year before TWS, when Case was held captive by Hydra.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to part two of The Ballad of Case Howlett and Bucky Barnes, “I’d Rather Laugh with the Sinners than Cry with the Saints”  
> The title of the story comes from the song “Only the Good Die Young” by Billy Joel, I do not own any rights to it, nor "Pompeii" by Bastille or “The Great Pretender” – that goes to The Platters and Freddie Mercury  
> I also STILL don’t own any rights to “2 Fast 2 Furious”  
> I think that covers everything other than the main one – don’t own anything Marvel related. Case and Ryder belong to me, but they’re the only ones who do.   
> That being said, I hope you enjoy chapter one. Constructive criticism is always appreciated.

**June 19 th, 2013 – Washington DC**

Case closed the door behind her and locked it, placing the keys in the bowl on the end table and dropped her messenger bag on the floor, carrying the bag full of gifts and placing it on the counter.

She looked at the clock on the microwave – two-thirty AM.

“No longer my birthday,” Case muttered, “And I’m ninety-five years old…damn…”

She reached into the bag, pulling out the four large bottles of very _expensive_ alcohol, each one with a tag from Tony Stark. “Tell a man you can’t get drunk; he makes it his life’s mission to get you there.”

Leaving the bottles on the counter for now, she reached into the bag and pulled out the gift from Pepper Potts, a box full of colorful soaps and shampoos and candles, all listed as the various scents that Case enjoyed. She took them straight to her bathroom, organizing the items in her cabinet to use later.

Going back out to the living room, she returned to the counter. Ryder’s gift was next, with the explanation, _“Natasha and I worked together on this…she helped me pick it out, and we got you a gift card for that…Tune thing…”_

_“It’s called iTunes, Ryder,”_ Natasha had laughed.

A gift card to buy songs from iTunes and a set of portable speakers to attach her iPod to, two very thoughtful gifts if Case did say so herself, and with a bright smile she quickly set up the speakers and the device to play. Soon Freddie Mercury’s voice began to come from the speakers, belting out the lyrics to ‘The Great Pretender’.

Next, she pulled out Steve’s gift, which was still wrapped.

_“I’m not sure how you’ll feel about this one,”_ he said quietly. _“Don’t open it now…wait until later, then let me know what you think.”_

“It’s now or never I guess,” Case said, and sat on a stool. She ripped the paper off the item, and her jaw dropped.

It was a drawing…of her in her Captain America Stage Show costume. Brown ringlet curls with the blue hat on top, the long white gloves, the dress – with the blue satin bodice, the white stars sewn down the halter style collar, and the red and white striped skirt.

Behind her in the drawing was Bucky, in his brown army uniform, hat perched on top of his head. He had his arms wrapped around her, their heads tilted and eyes gazing at each other.

Case pressed a hand over her mouth as tears rolled down her cheeks. Now she could see why Steve had asked her to wait to open it. She set the frame balanced on the counter, so she could wipe at her eyes, trying to regain her composure.

**_Yes, I'm the great pretender_ **

**_Just laughin’ and gay like a clown_ **

**_I seem to be what I'm not; you see_ **

**_I'm wearing my heart like a crown_ **

**_Pretending that you're still around_ **

Case narrowed her eyes at her iPod, “Thanks Freddie…” She shook her head, taking another look at the picture, smiling softly at it.

It was nice to see Bucky again…even though it was just a drawing. Sometimes she felt she pushed him too far away, trying to keep the hurt at bay while trying to function without him.

Which she did do, function that is: she went on missions, helped the rest of the Avengers with the cleanup and charities and publicity and what not that had sort of exploded after Loki and the Battle of Manhattan, and SHIELD, one couldn’t forget SHIELD.

Not to mention getting caught up on the rest of what she and Ryder and Steve had missed while on ice. Music – a lot of what was considered “classic rock” thanks to Tony. He was the one that had introduced her to Queen, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, the list went on, and if he didn’t have the time, he pointed her in the direction to find more.

Movies were another thing entirely…movies and television, there had been so much to get through. The whole team had agreed _Star Wars_ and _Star Trek_ were a must, Natasha had suggested _Friends_ and _Sex and the City_ – the latter of which both Steve and Ryder had told Case she was on her own for after listening to a synopsis from Clint.

Although some movies Case discovered on her own while channel surfing in the Avengers’ Tower…which led to an uncomfortable conversation about a month ago that had Tony practically rolling on the floor laughing before Case even realized what she’d said…and what ammunition she’d accidentally handed to him on a silver platter.

_“Or on a Nissan Skyline,”_ she could hear Tony wheezing through laughter at the pun already.

“The question is though,” Case finally said aloud, “Which is worse? Being still stuck on a guy who died decades ago, or being attracted to an unattainable blond actor who looks good in a towel?” After she said it out loud, Case gave a groan and facepalmed, bracing her left arm on the counter, “I just asked that to a drawing…”

She glanced back at the frame, and braced her chin on her knuckles as she added, “although…I did just finally admit to my first crush in seventy years, so I guess that’s progress…I guess…Tony would be proud I finally admitted it…and I’m still talking to a drawing! God Howlett, pull yourself together!”

She squeezed at her forehead, rubbing at her temples with her thumb and middle finger, “I gotta remember to call Tony later…he’ll laugh his ass off, but at least he’s someone to talk to…”

She finally lowered her hand, giving a sad smile at the image, thinking to herself that Steve still did _amazing_ work, when her eyes caught onto something that was reflected in the glass of the frame.  

The door to her coat closet was ajar. She _never_ left that open – in fact Case kept all her doors closed, save for the bathroom door when nobody was inside – which was still open, with light pouring out into the hallway.

Sniffing the air, she frowned, it was a familiar scent. _Too_ familiar in fact, but that also meant that someone else was in the apartment with her, watching her and waiting. The scent was too fresh in the air and was lingering…and she had a feeling it wasn’t some random creep from the streets.

_“Génial,”_ she muttered under her breath. She locked onto the drawing and assumed that the picture was messing with her head – that’s why the scent seemed familiar. “I’ll thank Steve for the mind fuck later…let’s just put you somewhere safe,” She said aloud, grabbing the picture and heading in the direction of her bedroom.

She could hear the iPod switch to a new song as she opened the door. She slid in and shut it behind her, moving to her nightstand and pulling open the drawer.

“Alright, in you go,” Case mumbled, nestling the frame inside and sliding the drawer shut. She shook her head at herself, “Seriously Case…you’re talking to a _drawing_ …”

After shutting the bedroom door, she paused by the bathroom, turning out the light and shutting that door too.

She lightened her steps, and slowly crept toward her closet. The claws of her left hand slid out, a pale, almost ivory color in the moonlight, and she raised them into an attack position as she threw open the closet door.

Empty…the closet was empty, save for a couple of jackets and a few rolls of wrapping paper.

But the smell was still there, and _fresh_ …someone _had_ been in the closet, and had moved…it made Case’s hair stand on end.

She was slowly closing the door, when she heard a high-pitched whine. She dropped to her knees as a metal fist slammed the door shut completely, taking a large chunk out of the wood.

“Shit!” Case hissed, and kicked out with her legs, trying to sweep the attacker’s out from under him.

He jumped and leapt toward the side, giving Case a few seconds to jump to her feet, landing just a few steps from the kitchen counter.

Her attacker was tall and broad shouldered, with brown hair down to his shoulders. His right arm was covered by the sleeve of his uniform, while his left was bare, made of metal from his fingers to his shoulder, where a red star was painted.

His blue eyes were the only thing visible on his face, covered in black grease paint, the lower part of his face covered in a mask.

“Nice eyes,” Case said, retracting the claws. “I’ve always liked blue eyes…” She took a few steps closer to the counter, then froze when he aimed a pistol at her. She raised her hands to chest-level, palms out as she added, “Hey man, no need for that…you know…just us in here.”

The last thing she needed was a stray bullet to pass through a wall or the floor and hit one of her neighbors…her very human, non-mutant neighbors who didn’t come equipped with accelerated or enhanced healing abilities.

“If you could just put that away…that would be good,” Case added, eyeing the gun nervously. “Not like it can hurt me anyway…in seconds the wound’s gonna be gone.”

He just stared at her; gun still aimed at her chest.

“Please…just put the gun down,” Case told him, “This doesn’t have to end in a fight.”

The man finally ejected the bullet that was in the chamber, thumbed the safety on, then knelt and put the gun by his foot. He then stood to his full height and kicked it under the couch.

Case cocked an eyebrow at that, “I can’t tell if you did that because you don’t trust me…or you don’t think I can take you on my own.”

His eyebrow went up in a questioning gesture.

“Oh, now that’s just insulting,” Case scowled at him. “But it does make me feel better about this!” She grabbed one of the bottles Tony gave her and hurled it at him.

His left arm was up in an instant, and the glass shattered when it made contact.

Case’s hand was on the knob of her front door when his flesh hand grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and slammed her down onto the dining room table. He switched hands once she was down, and cold metal closed around the back of her neck, pressing her harder into the polished wood and causing an involuntary shudder.

Case growled into the wood and kicked backward, catching one of his shins. She heard a grunt of discomfort, but he didn’t budge.

He shoved her higher across the table, easily flipping her onto her back.

Case took the opening before he could make another move. She grabbed hold of his mask, catching his face with her fingernails while she pulled both legs up toward her chest and kicked out, catching him center mass and knocking the wind out of him. It dislodged the metal hand and she shot across the room to her feet.

When she caught sight of her attacker’s face she froze.

Somehow, in the background, her iPod was still playing. It had switched to ‘Pompeii’ by Bastille…a fitting song for the moment.

**_But if you close your eyes,_ **

**_Does it almost feel like nothing changed at all?_ **

**_And if you close your eyes_ **

**_Does it almost feel like you’ve been here before?_ **

The mask dropped from her fingers, giving a hollow clunk on the floor, and Case weakly stammered, “B-Bucky?”

**_How am I gonna be an optimist about this?_ **

He stared at her with a frown on his face, angry red marks going across his left cheek where she caught him with her fingernails, “Who the hell is Bucky?”

**_How am I gonna be an optimist about this?_ **

Glass suddenly cracked – and Case felt a prick in the back of her neck.

Her legs disappeared from beneath her, and she hit the floor as everything went blurry. As her living room faded, she could hear the music still playing from the iPod.

**_If you close your eyes, does it almost feel like nothing changed at all?_ **


	2. Chapter 2

“What the hell were you thinking?” Kayla Silverfox stood at her desk, eyes practically bugging out of her head at Alexander Pierce. “Kidnapping Logan Howlett’s daughter? Are you _insane_?”

“She’s necessary to our use of mutants,” Pierce shrugged.

“Then why not go after Logan—?”

“We want to have a game plan in place before we storm that mutant school,” Pierce told her.

“So, you’re gonna use the girl as a guinea pig?”

“That’s using the term loosely, don’t you think? She’s ninety-something years old.”

“Ninety-five.”

“Whatever…point is, she’ll be useful. And we’re grabbing her from DC, so we’ll have the advantage. She’ll be wiped and prepped before they even realize she’s gone.”

“You’re not putting her in that metal monstrosity,” Kayla snarled at him as the door opened.

The Asset marched in, standing straight and waiting for instruction.

“Mission report?” Pierce asked.

“Extraction mission was successful,” The Asset responded.

“I take it she put up a fight?” Kayla asked, seeing the scratches and motioning at her own cheek.

“There _was_ an altercation.”

“Of course, you can’t expect a Howlett to surrender easily,” Kayla pointed out. “Lucky you didn’t get stabbed.” She resumed her seat at her desk and to Pierce she said, “I can handle things from here.”

Pierce just gave a nod and left the room.

“Have you been briefed?”

“New mission?”

“Right…you’re going to be training our newest… _recruit,_ ” Kayla scowled as she said the word. “Her codename is ‘The Siren’.” She handed him a folder of the information they’d compiled on the woman.

The Asset took the folder in his left hand and started to read the information.

“She’s got bone claws—”

“Shh!”

Kayla stopped mid-sentence, and in a shocked voice asked, “Did you just _shush_ me?”

“You don’t talk about the mutations,” The Asset hissed at her. “You don’t acknowledge them…they don’t exist.”

Kayla frowned, “Of course they exist! Cassidy Howlett is a mutant—” she cut off when he shushed her again. “It’s not a secret that they’re…what they are. It’s out in the open…”

“Don’t talk about it,” The Asset said. “Not supposed to talk to anyone about it.”

Kayla stared at him, “What are you talking about?”

The Asset just turned a page in the file, not bothering to respond.

“Okay…” Kayla frowned, deciding to play along for now. This behavior wasn’t _entirely_ unusual, in the past the Asset had moments where he displayed an attitude problem or asked more questions than he should. Maybe Cassidy had said something to him? “But I _know_ about her mutations…so clearly—”

The Asset simply turned away from her, eyes still glued to the file.

“Who gave you that order?” Kayla now asked. Maybe _that_ was the answer – true, the Asset usually wasn’t there to ask questions, but he always listened and complied when getting orders and instructions for a mission, maybe there were a few wires crossed somewhere. “And where the hell do you get off shushing me?”

The Asset turned back and showed her a picture from the file, “Her.”

It was a random snapshot from Cassidy’s time as a dancing girl in the ridiculous Captain America show. She had ringlet curls and was flashing a bright smile to the camera.

“Cassidy gave you the order?” Kayla asked, cocking an eyebrow. So, she _had_ said something to the Asset.

“Yes.”

“Before or after you attacked her?”

“Neither.”

“So, when did she give the order?”

The Asset blinked once, then twice. He looked back at the file, and frowned, cocking his head as he said, “I don’t know.”

Kayla’s eyes narrowed, “That’s impossible. She was lost in the Arctic until two thousand and eleven. There’s no way she could have given you the order before now.”

The Asset said nothing as he closed the file and handed it back to her, simply stating, “You are not authorized to have that information.”

Kayla’s brows rose, and she repeated, “Authorized?”

The Asset gave a nod.

“Hate to break it to you, _Soldat_ , but it’s very common knowledge of what Cassidy and her family can do. Authorization doesn’t matter when the information is out in the open.”

“Direct order states otherwise.”

“And whose direct order was that?”

The Asset nodded toward the file, “Hers.”

“And she did that _when_?” Kayla asked, and when she saw the lost look on the Asset’s face, she sighed, “Yeah, yeah, you don’t know. Dismissed Soldier.”

 

* * *

 

_“God…I can’t believe you’re ninety-five…it seems like just yesterday I brought you and your brother home from the hospital…”_

Case’s face scrunched in pain. Her head was throbbing, her stomach was churning…she hadn’t felt this hung over since that drinking binge she’d gone on with Ryder and Steve after Bucky fell from the train.

The voice chuckled, _“You and I never were good though…were we? From the moment they put you in my arms…you started screaming. And now you’re here…”_

“God will you shut up?” Case groaned. Every muscle felt like it weighed a hundred pounds – it was a struggle to sit up and rub at her eyes.

As the room came into focus, she realized was laying on a bed that had seen better days – literally, it looked almost identical to the bed she’d woken in after she’d crashed into the ice on the _Valkyrie_.

The walls were plain – made of gray brick halfway down, changing from light gray to dark gray as they reached the cement floor. A bar ran across the wall behind her with electrical outlets, a lamp that ran up the wall and a few empty carts on either side of the bed.

“Got a date for me?” Case asked, looking at the empty carts.

“June twentieth, two thousand thirteen,” the speaker said.

This time Case paused. She knew that voice…but that wasn’t possible, was it?

“Well…at least I didn’t lose seventy years again…” Case swallowed roughly.

“Is that supposed to be funny?”

“As funny as waking up from a nightmare into yet another nightmare can be,” She pulled her knees to her chest, trying to remain calm. She’d never get out of here if she panicked…not to mention she’d never hear the end of it from the rest of the team.

“Are you going to look at me?”

Case kept her eyes on the thin cotton blanket, “Am I going to like what I see?”

“Cassidy—”

“Who are you?” Case demanded, in a tone that left no argument.

The speaker sighed, “I always said, _‘My eyes and your father’s hair…what a combination’._ ”

Case’s heart dropped into her stomach. Tears filled her eyes, she could feel bile creeping up her throat, her chest tightened…

“I’m a little surprised you remember me, honestly…you were so young when I had to leave—”

“I was five,” Case growled, as the shock gave way into anger. “We were _five_ …”

“I understand, Cassidy…but ninety years—”

“We were on ice for seventy of it!” Case snarled. “We were twenty-seven when we crashed…twenty-two years after you…you…” She was breathing heavily, and finally looked up at the speaker, “we thought you were _dead_.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Oh yeah, that makes it _all_ better,” Case scowled. “You’ve…you’re…” She looked around the room, “What the hell is all of this?”

“A Hydra base—”

“No, that’s impossible. Hydra died with the Red Skull,” Case snapped. “I was there. I was with Steve when the _Valkyrie_ crashed.”

“No, you took out a leader of Hydra,” Kayla corrected her. “Cut off one head, two more shall rise. Just because Schmidt was gone didn’t mean that Hydra was gone forever.”

“Course not…” Case whispered.

“Cassidy—”

“Why am I here?” Case interrupted. She’d deal with those revelations later when she was alone…but she needed that answer _now._

“What?”

“Let’s face it, after ninety years you’re suddenly popping up in my life like nothing happened?” Case asked, “After some metal armed whack-a-doodle attacked me…why am I here?”

Kayla pinched at the bridge of her nose, “I was hoping to… _ease_ you into it—”

“I don’t do easy. And you had to know _nothing_ about this would be easy after ninety years.”

Kayla gave another sigh, “Pierce has an idea for a group of soldiers, like Captain America, only they fight for Hydra. He’s had some success stories over the years, but he wants to branch into the mutant community.”

“So why me?”

“Pierce has never been one for _voluntary_ work,” Kayla told her. “He thought you were the better pick.”

“Why me specifically?”

“He thinks once you’re fused with the adamantium you’ll make a great asset to Hydra—”

“I’m _not_ getting fused with adamantium!” Case shrieked. She shot to her feet, keeping the cot in between them, “No fuckin’ way am I taking that shit! From what I hear Dad took it voluntarily but it damn near killed him!”

“I’m sorry Cassidy, we don’t really have a choice—”

“Course we do! You get me the hell outta here and Pierce doesn’t know any different!” Case told her. When Kayla looked away, a new realization suddenly sank in, and Case gave a dark laugh, “Of course…that was stupid…”

“What was?”

“For some strange reason I thought you came in here to help me,” Case was still chuckling in disbelief. “But…you’re Hydra…you just came in here to let me know what was going to happen.”

“Cassidy—”

“No, no, I get it,” Case told her. “At least ninety years of Hydra loyalty in comparison to your own damn kid—”

“You need to keep that one under your hat,” Kayla told her. “They don’t…”

Case gave a huff, “They know we exist but not that you’re our mother.”

“That’s right…and I’d like to keep it that way.”

“Course you would.”

“What do you want from me, Cassidy?”

Case shook her head and plopped back down on the cot, “I’d like some time alone to get my affairs in order…not to mention let it sink in that not only did my mother abandon me when I was five fucking years old, my mother is selling me out to Hydra to keep her cover…oh, _and_ fact that I lost seventy years off of my life for nothing!”

“Cassidy—”

“Get _out!_ ” Case finally screamed.

Kayla opened her mouth, but then opted to close it and her shoulders slumped. She headed for the door and knocked twice, “I’ll be back when they come to take you.”

“Fuck off!”

Another sigh, the door opened, and Kayla disappeared, door closing behind her and locks clanking into place.

Case backed up into the wall, hugging her knees to her chest. Tears were welling in her eyes, as she tried to sort through everything. She wasn’t sure what hurt worse…she wasn’t even sure what to focus on.

Her mother…her own mother. Alive and well all this time…and with Hydra? With no qualms or hesitation about sending Case into a laboratory to be fused with the adamantium.

Her father had told her about his fusion – he’d wanted to spare her _some_ details, such as why he’d volunteered to begin with, but she knew it wasn’t a pleasure cruise. The metal was heated until it was in its liquid form, he’d said he felt like he was being burned alive from the inside out.

Even with _his_ healing ability there had been no guarantees he’d live through it. Case was nowhere ready to die but she couldn’t help but wonder if her life was about to be cut short anyway in a very slow, painful way.

Unable to bear it any longer, Case simply grabbed the pillow from behind her. She took a deep breath and held the material to her face, screaming in pain and frustration until her voice went hoarse. When she couldn’t scream anymore, she simply sobbed into the pillow, crying herself into an uneasy sleep, anything to escape the horrible reality she was stuck in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that’s chapter two. Not sure how I did in some areas, any constructive criticism is appreciated. I hope you enjoy and I’ll see you in chapter three.


	3. Chapter 3

Footsteps echoed on the metal platform as Kayla Silverfox trailed after Alexander Pierce and the Asset into the laboratory, where the adamantium fusion would take place.

Pierce was explaining what would happen with the procedure concluding with, “Once the fusion is complete, we’ll need to erase her memories—”

“She keeps her memories,” Kayla cut him off. “At least for now.”

“Are you sure that’s wise?” Pierce asked.

“Look, let’s see if she even can withstand the fusion,” Kayla told him. “Then we’ll talk about her memories.”

Pierce was looking over her shoulder, “See something you like Soldier?”

The Asset was still standing ramrod straight as usual, but he’d stopped a few paces behind them, with his eyes were focused on the floor below.

Cassidy had been led into the room, her long brown hair now pulled back into a braid going down her back, and she was wearing nothing more than a black sports bra and tiny black shorts that Kayla barely considered underwear. That was more than originally had been approved of – they’d wanted her daughter to be brought in _naked_ of all things…Kayla understood, and had even seen the Asset himself in various stages of undress, but she’d _never_ approve of her daughter being treated in such a way.

Not that she’d admit that Cassidy was hers…that was going to stay a secret between the two of them.

“Soldier?” Pierce repeated, frustration evident in his voice, and the word brought Kayla back to the present.

“The Indestructible Siren…”

Pierce looked at Kayla with a cocked eyebrow, “The ‘Indestructible’ Siren?”

“Got me,” Kayla admitted with a shrug. She folded her arms as she added, “I know her call sign is the ‘Siren’ but that’s a first for me.”

Pierce frowned and eyed the Asset, “Keep an eye on that for now. Let me know if that changes.” After receiving a nod from Kayla, He checked his watch, “Well, best be off…the festivities are about to begin.”

Pierce took off, and Kayla waited until he was out of earshot before she joined him at the railing and snapped at the Asset, “Where the hell did you pull that from? The ‘Indestructible’ Siren?”

“She’s beautiful,” The Asset added, not acknowledging Kayla’s statement.

“Yes, she is,” Kayla admitted. She braced her elbows against the railing of the walkway, and with a sigh she shoved her face into her hands. She didn’t know what she’d do if Cassidy didn’t survive the fusion…she’d stayed away per Logan’s request, but she couldn’t bare it if her daughter died because of all this.

“Case…”

Kayla looked up, and her eyes went straight for the Asset. “What did you say?”

“Her name…” The Asset said. There was a confused frown on his face, “It’s her name…but not her name…”

Kayla frowned at the comment, but before she could respond further the tell-tale sound of a heart monitor filled the cavernous room.

Cassidy was strapped to a metal platform that was suspended above a large water tank, breathing tube attached to her mouth. From where they stood Kayla could see the young woman’s chest rising and falling rapidly, as if the gravity of the situation were now truly sinking in for her.

“She’s afraid,” The Asset murmured. “She’s clenching her hands into fists…otherwise she’d be biting her fingernails.”

Kayla let his words fade into the background, her focus went to the platform Pierce now stood on with William Stryker – the lead scientist for the experiment – where a few of the techs were reading off Cassidy’s vitals.

“Alright…begin the fusion,” Stryker called out.

The platform lowered, and Cassidy was submerged in the water.

The silver-colored metal liquid filled large containers along the sides of the tank. The syringes over the platform shifted into place, before the large needles started to spin like drills. They lowered into the water next, each over different areas of Cassidy’s form – her skull, her limbs – to ensure maximum coverage from head to toe.

Kayla couldn’t watch the next part and shut her eyes as the needles stabbed into her daughter. She could hear the containers and tubes bubbling as the adamantium began flowing, and when she looked back, she could see Cassidy thrashing around in the tank.

The heart monitor was screeching as the mutant’s pulse increased drastically. The tech kept yelling out numbers – her heart rate and body temperature were skyrocketing beyond maximum levels – and Kayla nearly had a heart attack herself. “They’re gonna kill her…she can’t survive this…” she whimpered.

“She’ll live.”

Kayla glared at the Asset, who kept staring at the tank. She also noticed that both of his hands were now gripping the railing – they’d been loose at his sides before.

The bubbling stopped…so did the beeping…the heart monitor was letting out just one single whine.

“Flatline…” Kayla whispered. She gripped the railing tightly, still whispering, “No…no please…!”

“Wait,” The Asset hissed at her.

Kayla’s eyes went to him again, and she nearly growled at him in anger.

“Well…I guess she can die after all,” Pierce said. “What a waste…”

Kayla’s eyes filled with tears, and she pressed a hand to her mouth trying to keep her composure.

“Come on…you can do it,” The Asset whispered. “Come back to me, Cassidy.”

Kayla opened her mouth to yell at him to be quiet, but then she heard it…there was a beep…then a second, then a third…

“Take her back to her cell,” Pierce ordered from the platform.    

The platform was lifted, Cassidy’s body was limp, but she was alive, according to the monitors. As the techs moved her, Kayla turned to the Asset.

“How did you know she would live?” She demanded of him.

“I just did…” The Asset frowned thoughtfully, almost confused at the idea himself.

“How?”

The Asset blinked at her, “I know her.”

“Silverfox, bring the Asset to the briefing room,” Pierce called.

Kayla turned back toward the Asset, but he’d about faced and walked away.

 

* * *

 

_The train rattled and shook, but Ryder and Case remained with the others on top. She closed her eyes, trying to remain focused on the mission, and not on the looming disaster that was about to unfold._

_Maybe Bucky would forgive her…she just had to find the right words to apologize…and maybe he’d still care about her enough to stick around. She’d never had to be that honest with_ anyone _…let alone the man she’d been pining after for years._

_Something landed behind her, and Case turned in her kneeling position._

_Suddenly a silver hand was around her throat, and she was being lifted into the air. Cold blue eyes stared back at her as she struggled to breathe._

_“Bucky…Bucky…please…!” She gasped for air, and suddenly everything felt like it was on fire. The freezing cold temperature disappeared, but the whiteness remained._

_He pulled her close, “You did this to me.”_

_“No…Buck…I didn’t—”_

_“You left me behind…why would I ever forgive you?”_

Case shot up with a scream caught in her throat. Tears were rolling down her cheeks, broken sobs were escaping her as she fought to regain her composure.

_“Respirer,”_ a familiar voice said softly, and placed a hand on Case’s back. It rubbed in small circles, _“C'est bon, mon coeur, respire.”_

It took a minute or two…but Case finally could take shallow breaths. The tears slowed, and she sniffled and wiped at her eyes. Her face was drenched…she hadn’t cried like this in a long time.

At least not since they were defrosted…

_“Est-ce que ça va?”_

Her mother was seated on the right side of the bed beside her, and the hand on her back – while extremely unwelcome – was having the desired effect and was helping to calm Case down, as was the use of French only...even in the present, when situations became too much the twins switched into French. Usually never realizing it, unless it was spoken back to them by Steve, Natasha, or Clint…or Tony called for Jarvis to translate.

“No,” Case said in a hoarse voice. “Very far from it.” She took a few deeper breaths to try and regain her composure, to get her bearings and put the metaphorical rug back beneath her feet.

“Thought we’d lost you there for a moment,” Kayla said.

Case wiped at her nose with a sniffle, “I’m glad you didn’t…I thought the last thing I ever saw was going to be those damn needles…”

“You were also…talking in your sleep,” Kayla added, her hand coming to a halt on Case’s back. “Who is Bucky?”

Tears filled Case’s eyes again, and her lips trembled as she fought hard to keep from sobbing again. She got to her feet on shaky legs, and took a few steps away from the bed, “No one.”

“He has to be someone if he’s affecting you this way,” Kayla pointed out.

“Can you not do this?” Case asked, whirling around to face her. “You chose Hydra over your own children…don’t for a second think that anything has changed.”

Kayla stared at her for a moment, then said, “Come with me.”

“Why?”

“Pierce wants you to train with Hydra’s Asset,” Kayla explained, getting to her feet. “I need you to see what you’re getting into.” She pushed a set of clothes in Case’s direction, “Put these on.”

Case frowned and looked down at herself, feeling her cheeks burn when she realized she was still in just her underwear. “Lovely…” she walked over and pulled on the black cargo pants, “Train with the Asset, huh? Does everyone get that treatment or just me?”

Kayla kept her eyes on the bed, away from Case. “He trained some of the Widows…I’m sure you’re familiar with them.”

“The Black Widows? Just one of them actually,” Case said as she zipped the black thermal shirt. “If he trained girls like her though…man’s gotta be impressive.”

“The Asset’s been with Hydra for over seventy years…the Fist of Hydra,” Kayla added. She picked up a pair of boots and tossed over some socks, “These too…don’t put them on the bed.”

Case scowled, and when she took the boots, she dropped them on the thin blanket and sat down to put on the socks. “How do you keep someone around for seventy years?”

“Same way you made it to ninety-five, Cassidy,” Kayla explained.

Case finished with the boots in silence, before getting to her feet. “Alright…wow me.”

Kayla got to her feet and rapped on the door.

When it opened, Case followed Kayla down a long, empty hallway. With her sensitive hearing Case could already hear grunts and the sounds of fighting already in progress.

“They’re already having a training session,” Kayla explained as she opened a new door. “We have some _other_ soldiers that he’s working with as well.”

The room was virtually empty, save for a desk with a lone chair and a wastebasket in the corner. It had a large window where they could see into another room, this one lined with metal bars like a jail cell.

When she caught the glint of a metal arm, Case asked, “That’s the one that brought me here, right?”

“Yes…he’s called the Winter Soldier,” Kayla explained, “Or the Asset. He’s Hydra’s weapon.”

“Hydra’s weapon, huh?” Case asked, watching the Asset carefully. “And just how does Hydra acquire a weapon like him?”

“I don’t think that matters—”

“Oh, I think it…” Case trailed off when she saw the Asset’s face. He looked straight at the glass and…Case raced for the wastebasket and dropped to her knees, dry-heaving into the container. Apparently, she hadn’t eaten anything recently, nothing was coming up. “Oh god…not a nightmare…not a nightmare…!”

“Cassidy?” Kayla asked.

“How…” Case was hoarse again from the dry-heaves. She gasped for air, “How did Hydra get him?”

“That’s not important now, is it?”

Case turned around at the sound of the new voice, dragging the wastebasket with her as she took note of the man with light brown hair and dark framed glasses dressed in a thick coat and slacks.

“This is Alexander Pierce,” Kayla explained.

Pierce was shaking his head at Case and making small _tsk_ sounds, “Come now, Siren…I thought you were made from tougher stock than this.”

Case gave a growl as she got to her feet. “How long do you think you can hide this? When Cap finds out—”

“Cap isn’t going to find out,” Pierce told her. “James Barnes died during World War Two…that’s all that matters.”

“He looks pretty alive to me,” Case told him.       

Pierce then turned to Kayla, “And _that_ is why I ordered the memory wipe…it keeps them in line, in compliance.”

“We don’t need those drastic, barbaric measures!” Kayla protested.

Case shook her head, half listening to the argument between Kayla and Pierce as she watched in horror as Bucky fought against the other soldier. She barely suppressed a scream and jumped backward as he was suddenly sent flying into the bulletproof glass window.

“Sorry about that,” Kayla said quietly. “They are…of a different design.”

Bucky got back to his feet, otherwise seemingly unharmed.

“How the hell is he supposed to train me if he gets himself killed?” Case demanded.

“The Asset is sturdier than he looks…plus Hydra can just rebuild him if he gets damaged…or we’ll just have one of the others train you.”

“The care you put into taking care of your weapons is _astounding,_ Pierce,” Case rolled her eyes, raising her thumb to her mouth as she started chewing on her thumbnail.

“Come on…time to go back to your cell,” Kayla frowned at her, motioning at the door with her hand.

Case reluctantly turned away from the glass, barely keeping a cringe from her face as she heard another slam against the glass.

Kayla led the way as they took off down the hallway, their steps echoing off the concrete floor.

“You bite your fingernails?” Kayla asked suddenly.

Case curled her fingers around her thumb and pulled it away from her mouth, “Just when I’m nervous.”

“I see…

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus, ends Chapter Three – the adamantium has been fused, and Bucky has been revealed. I hope you enjoyed this latest installment
> 
> Again, I don’t speak French at all, so I apologize if the translations are off, but according to Bing translator:
> 
> Respirer --> Breathe
> 
> C'est bon, mon coeur, respire --> It's okay, sweetheart, breathe
> 
> Est-ce que ça va --> Are you okay?


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Chapter Four. Wanted to start a little bit of development between Case and Kayla, told from Kayla’s POV at this time.   
> Also – I do not own any of the songs quoted in this chapter, from “Seven Seas of Rhye” (Queen) to “Only the Good Die Young” (Billy Joel) and “High School Never Ends” (Bowling for Soup)

_“Fear me you lords and lady preachers. I descend upon your earth from the skies! I command your very souls you unbelievers. Bring before me what is mine – the Seven Seas of Rhye!”_

Kayla Silverfox was patrolling the halls when she heard it. A female voice was _singing_ …belting out they lyrics behind one of the steel doors. Whoever was doing it had an amazing set of pipes, and Kayla could count on her fingers the number of women in the facility, which had to mean only _one_ was singing.

She marched up to the cell, and sure enough, the voice was loudest coming from behind that door.

_“Can you hear me you peers and privy counselors? I stand before you naked to the eyes! I will destroy any man who dares abuse my trust! I swear that you’ll be mine—!”_

Kayla shoved open the door, “What in God’s name are you doing?”

Cassidy was standing on the cot, slowly lowering her foot and shoulders as it looked like she’d been caught mid-dance move, and she stated, “The Seven Seas of Rhye.”

“What the hell are you doing?”

Cassidy’s eyebrows rose, “Uh, I was singing…‘Seven Seas of Rhye’ by Queen, released on their album _Queen Two_. Has a jaunty piano opening, then follows with some guitar, and Freddie just—”

“Stop!” Kayla held up her hand, “And get down from there! You weren’t raised in a barn!”

“Like you would know,” Cassidy rolled her eyes, and got down off the bed.

Kayla rolled her eyes, “Do you have any idea what time it is?”

Cassidy shrugged, “Nope…no windows, no watch, no clocks. Not a clue in the slightest. Just know I can’t sleep and I’m bored.”

“You’re…you’re bored?”

“Yes, bored.”

“And when you’re bored you sing?”

“For the most part, yes. But to be honest…my muse died during World War Two…so I haven’t had the urge to sing for a bit.” She folded her arms and leaned back against the far wall, “I like taking advantage of it when the feeling arises.”

Kayla made a face, “I’ve never cared for Queen…band of idiots, the whole lot of ‘em.”

“Well there’s no accounting for taste,” Cassidy shrugged again. “What do you want?”

“Well I was on a patrol when I heard you singing,” Kayla admitted, sitting down on the foot of the bed. “But I also want to know more about you…I mean, clearly, we’ve gotten off to a bad start…but you like Queen, that’s progress, right?”

“Bad start? Is that really what you want to call this?”

“I’m offering an olive branch,” Kayla told her. “I want to get to know my daughter.”

Cassidy gave a huff, and shook her head, “I’m gonna give you a piece of advice…and a quote. ‘I still don’t have the right look, and I still have the same three friends. And I’m pretty much the same as I was back then.’”

Kayla frowned, “I’m not familiar with that one.”

“Your loss.”

Kayla frowned, and it grew quiet for a few moments. “You…you like music, I take it. Multiple genres.”

“Good guess.”

“You have a good voice.”

“It’s what I’ve been told.”

“You disagree?”

“I try to stay humble when it comes to that,” Cassidy admitted. “I’ve never liked drawing attention to myself…the USO and the Road Show was the closest I really came to getting into the spotlight…”

“But you were background at best.”

“Worked for me…I was doing what I loved to do,” Cassidy shrugged. She gave a sigh, “I guess I’m not getting out of here anytime soon—”

“Cassidy—”

“So that leaves us with this,” Cassidy interrupted. “You can ask me questions…in return I may ask some. But I reserve the right to pass on topics I don’t feel like commenting on.”

“And if I disagree?”

“Then we’re going to be sitting in lots of awkward silences.”

Kayla sighed, “Fine…I don’t seem to have any other option.”

“Now you’re getting it.”

“Will you come sit down?”

“Nope, I’m fine right here.”

Kayla pinched at the bridge of her nose, “God you really _are_ your father’s daughter, aren’t you?”

“Got it in one.”

“Alright, fine,” Kayla took a deep breath. She chewed on her lip for a moment, “Do you like any movies? Or have you seen any recently?”

“ _Two Fast Two Furious_ ,” Cassidy answered. “A friend of mine showed me the first one, _The Fast and the Furious._ ”

“You watched the second one first?”

“I was channel surfing.”

“Car chases appeal to you?”

“Next question.”

“Ah so not the cars but the cute guys.”

“Please I haven’t thought a guy was _cute_ since I was in my twenties,” Cassidy rolled her eyes. Her lips then quirked up in a small smile, “But he _was_ pretty cute though…especially his eyes…”

“So, nobody special in your life then?”

Cassidy shook her head, “Just my team.”

“Oh yes…I’ve seen the reports,” Kayla nodded. “The ragtag bunch of misfit vigilantes in spandex and metal.”

“We showed Loki what for,” Cassidy pointed out.

Kayla hesitated for a moment, “What about Bucky?”

That made Cassidy shift on her feet, “What about him?”

“Is he on your team?”

Cassidy gave a small huff and chewed on her lip for a moment before she said, “We lost Bucky in nineteen forty-five.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Right,” Cassidy whispered. “Look, I don’t like talking about him, alright? Every time you mention him it’s gonna be a hard pass, so just find something new.”

Kayla decided to give that one to her for now. “What other musicians do you like?”

“My friend Tony’s been getting me into classic rock…AC/DC, Black Sabbath…except he listens to them at extremely loud levels, gives me a headache.” Cassidy rubbed at her temples, before adding, “Billy Joel is another one I like…”

“Billy Joel isn’t bad,” Kayla admitted.

“Huh, imagine that…we actually have something in common.”

“Stranger things have happened.”

“Favorite song?”

Kayla thought that one over, “Hard to say…maybe ‘Uptown Girl’?”

“Not a bad choice,” Cassidy agreed.

“Yours?”

“‘Only the Good Die Young’.”

“Bit ironic don’t you think?”

“Yeah, but I really didn’t die, did I? What does that say about me?”

Kayla frowned, “That you’re hard headed and have an amazing healing ability.”

Cassidy mulled that over, and let out a yawn, “I guess so.”

“Glad to know I can talk you to sleep,” Kayla chuckled as she got to her feet.

“I’ve had more fun ways to fall asleep,” Cassidy grumbled as she plopped down on the cot. The hinges creaked and collapsed, pieces landing on the floor with a loud clang.

“I’ll get that replaced later for you,” Kayla said.

All she received was a glare from Cassidy as the younger mutant grabbed one of the legs of the now broken cot.

Kayla yanked the door open and shut just in time for the leg to slam against the door. _Well it_ was _going better…_

Cassidy’s voice began to drift out of the room again, _“Come out, Virginia, don’t let me wait. You Catholic girls start much too late. Aw but sooner or later it comes down to faith, oh I might as well be the one…”_


	5. Chapter 5

After the bed collapsed, Case shoved the remains of the frame off to the side of the room, curling up on the mattress to try and catch a few moments of sleep when she finally started feeling tired.

That hadn’t lasted long when she woke up feeling like she was being burned from the inside out…a _lovely_ side-effect from being fused with molten metal against her will, or so Case assumed at this point. Off went the shirt and pants into a pile next to the mattress, anything to try and cool down and get comfortable again…

So, when she finally got back into a dreamless sleep, she wasn’t exactly sure how much time had passed – although it felt like five minutes – when she heard the door creak open again. She kept her back to the door, assuming it was her mother again for another chat.

The voice that spoke, however, was clearly not her mother’s.

“Wake up.”

Case rolled over onto her back and cracked an eye open, “Good morning to you too.”

“You need to train.”

Case cocked an eyebrow and eyed him up and down.

He was dressed head to toe in black, his sleeveless shirt managing to emphasize the muscles in his chest as well as in his right arm – and in the metal one as well, she had to give credit to whomever designed the thing.

His brown hair was down to his shoulders, but no mask. Blue eyes stared at her coldly, and his back was ramrod straight, his face sporting a bit more than a five o’clock shadow.

She closed her eyes and inhaled through her nose, catching the third scent in the room. Wanting to have a little fun, she gave a small smirk and said, “I can think of a few other things we can do instead, Soldier.”

“Cassidy!” A third voice cut in sharply.

Case gave a sigh and sat up, rubbing at her eyes, “I was _kidding._ ” _Mostly,_ she added silently. “I mean, he hasn’t got anything I haven’t seen before.”

“Cassidy Melissa!”

“I’m ninety-five years old, did you _honestly_ think I was still a virgin?” Case demanded.

“The Asset is a weapon, Cassidy.”

“He’s still a man,” Case pointed out, throwing the covers off. “A very attractive man at that…”

“Cassidy Melissa… _why_ are you in your underwear?” Kayla then demanded. “It’s freezing—”

“Had a nightmare,” Case admitted, pulling on the discarded pants. As she shoved her arm into her shirt, she added, “Felt a little… _overheated_.” She zipped up the shirt to her neck and sat down to pull her boots on.

“Still…”

“What?” Case asked as she finished, getting back to her feet. “You’re the ones that brought me here…fused me with that molten metal shit. Did you think that I was just going to walk away from that like nothing happened? Even Dad had nightmares from it!”

Kayla stood straighter, now avoiding her gaze. “I would appreciate it if you didn’t hit on our weapon…and I don’t appreciate your new language.”

“Well frankly I don’t give a flying fuck,” Case told her. “By the way, exactly when can I expect that new bed? Not that I think it’s gonna make much of a difference, but I’d prefer to _not_ sleep on just a mattress.”

“Look, it’s not like I can give into your every whim—”

“If it wasn’t for you idiots I wouldn’t even _be_ here right now, I’d be fighting with the _latest_ marshmallow I’ve purchased,” Case scowled. “But here we are having this conversation.”

“You say that like I had a choice.”

“There’s always a choice…but hey what can I expect? Ninety years ago, you chose Hydra over us…of course you’d choose their side now too.”

Kayla’s brows furrowed, “Do you not understand what’s at stake here?”

Case cast a glance at the Asset and gave a shrug as she turned back to Kayla, “My autonomy…my freedom…my memories apparently.” She rolled her eyes, “Who do you think you’re fooling? Pierce needs new blood, and they picked me to be their guinea pig. So, he’ll go along with you for a bit until he can turn me into him,” She bobbed her head toward the man.

“Pierce won’t do that without my approval.”

“Oh, so you agreed to have me be dragged here against my will?”

“Well, no, of course not,” Kayla snapped. “I wanted you far away from here.”

“Then you’re just an idiot.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

Case took a moment to think, then said, “Clinical depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic insomnia…panic disorder…” She gave a frown, “I think that’s it.”

Kayla blinked for a moment, seeming to take a moment to process everything she’d just heard. “I meant what the hell makes you think you can talk to me that way!”

Case’s eyebrows rose, “You work for the organization that just had me kidnapped and fused with molten hot metal…and above all… _him!_ ” She screeched the last word, and pointed at the Asset, “You made _him_ be the one to grab me from my home…I dare a shit ton, because if you cared _half_ as much as you say you do we wouldn’t be here!”

“Cassidy—”

“ _Don’t call me that!_ ” Case roared. “I hate it when you call me ‘Cassidy’…I hate it when anyone calls me ‘Cassidy’!”

“It’s your name!”

“Yes, legally it is,” Case snapped. “But in case you’ve forgotten…I don’t go by that name! Rarely if ever do I go by that name!”

“Yes, I know, you prefer that childish nickname Ryder gave you when you were three,” Kayla rolled her eyes. “I always hated that name…it doesn’t even make sense!”

“So then how ‘bout we stick to ‘Siren’ then, huh?” Case asked. “Keep things on a more… _professional_ term, shall we?”

“How ‘bout Bucky? What did he call you?”

Case suddenly saw red. If asked later, she would not be able to remember or recall what happened. Suddenly she was in a headlock, one cold metal arm pressed against her throat, and one flesh arm held tight across her torso, keeping both of her arms pinned. She recognized her bone-claws were out, and she was virtually immobile.

Kayla looked at her in shock.

Case blinked at her, “What just happened?”

“You leapt at her, tried to attack with your claws,” The Asset said calmly.

“This Bucky is a sore spot for you,” Kayla said, once the shock had worn off. “That’s good, we can use that.”

Case smirked, “I wouldn’t…not if you value your life.”

“I’d say my life is pretty secure, Cassidy.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

“Or, you know, you could just tell me who Bucky is,” Kayla added. “Save us all a lot of time and trouble.”

“Wow, can you form a segue,” Case rolled her eyes. “And no…I won’t tell you who he is. Now, had you actually been around when I was growing up then that may have been a possibility…as it stands now…forget it.”

“So, Bucky is someone you grew up with?”

“ _N'y pense plus_.”

 

* * *

  

“You really think I’m attractive?”

The Asset hadn’t said a word since they’d left her cell – Kayla had been the one to explain they’d be heading to one of the training rooms for a sparring match…training room being the room with the concrete floor lined with bars.  

Case, who was in the process of a quick downward-facing dog pose, opened her legs a bit and looked at the Soldier from between them, “Say again?”

“You said I’m attractive…what did you mean?”

Case realized how she was standing and stood straight, moving though a few other stretches, “I mean…well, I meant you’re rather handsome. Good-looking…” She felt her cheeks turn red as she said, “Downright sexy, actually…”

“I’m a weapon.”

“Not entirely you’re not,” Case told him. “Underneath the metal I’m sure you’re still…” she shook her head, “Never mind…forget I said anything…”

He frowned at her, watching her go through her stretches. He finally said, “Your name isn’t Cassidy.”

Case frowned, “Yes, it is…Cassidy Melissa Howlett.  My birth certificate may be older than dirt, but it’s clearly stated—”

“But your name is Case,” The Asset said.

That made Case stop all together and turn to face him. She was shocked, and extremely confused…Kayla had _never_ called her ‘Case’, flat out refused. And with that refusal she had never said it in front of the Winter Soldier, that much Case was sure of. “What?”

“I don’t understand why she calls you ‘Cassidy’…I know your name is ‘Case’,” The Asset continued. “I don’t know _how_ I know that…but…it’s true, right?”

“Right…” Case said, nodding. “You…you remember my name?”

The Asset nodded, “I know you…I don’t remember how…but I do.”

Case hesitated, then said, “That’s because we’ve known each since…nineteen twenty-four.”

The man looked confused, “We have?”

“Assuming of course you’re who I think you are,” Case admitted. “But you look like him, sound like him… _smell_ like him,” At the face she received, she held up a hand, “It’s a mutant thing, that’s all you need to know.”

He blinked at her, “Who do you think I am?”

“Sargent James Barnes of the One-Oh-Seventh,” Case said. “Fought in the European Theater during World War Two—”

“I’m not him.”

Case cocked her head, “You seem pretty certain of that.”

“I am the Winter Soldier.”

“So, they say,” Case admitted. “Well, like I said…I’m just assuming here based on the information at hand.”

As Case went into the downward facing dog position again, the Asset rolled his eyes, “Are you done stretching yet?”

“I think so,” Case said, standing straighter.

“Alright,” The Asset said, “I assume you know what you’re doing considering you worked for SHIELD.”

“I _work_ for SHIELD,” Case told him flatly, “This is temporary.”

The Asset blinked at her, “You really believe that?”

“Let’s get on with his, okay?” Case snapped at him.

“Fine…simple instruction, try to take me down.”

“Are you sure? I mean are you sure you don’t have some short flunky that I can try to defeat first?”

“You think you can’t defeat me?”

Case chewed on her lip, “I didn’t say that…”

“Then what?”

Case thought about the times Bucky had tried to teach her to fight, and told him, “Just don’t pull your punches this time.”

 

* * *

 

Kayla paced across the floor of the cell, wanting to make sure Cassidy was alright when she returned. Time was crawling by – a few hours had passed according to her watch, but it felt like an eternity was going by.

They were gone for a simple sparring match – what harm could it do?

She got her answer when the Asset walked into the cell, Cassidy draped over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry.

“What happened?” Kayla screeched.

“Nothin’,” Cassidy said drowsily, her nose sounding stuffed.

Kayla looked to the Asset, who looked like he had two black eyes – his nose was swollen, his lip was split, “What the hell did you do?”

“We sparred,” The Asset explained, depositing Cassidy onto the mattress.

Cassidy’s face fared no better – her nostrils were ringed with blood, her cheek scabbed with a purple bruise across her cheekbone, one of her lips split as well.

“Why is your neck purple?” Kayla demanded.

“She wouldn’t tap out,” The Asset answered.

“Tattle-tale,” Cassidy rolled her eyes.

“And so, what happened?”

“She passed out.”

Kayla’s eyes widened, “You weren’t supposed to beat her into oblivion!”

“It wasn’t his fault,” Cassidy argued. “I thought I could get out of the hold!”

“You got out alright,” The Asset pointed out. “And you slumped to the floor.”

“Shut up.”

Kayla looked back and forth between the Asset, frowning thoughtfully. “Maybe try something else tomorrow, huh? Something with less…”

“Less what?” Cassidy asked.

Kayla watched as the scab slowly began to disappear from Cassidy’s face, “Something that’s less likely to make him break your face.”

Cassidy exchanged looks with the Asset, “I had him on the ropes.”

“Not another word!” Kayla snapped as the Asset opened his mouth. “You _will_ try something else tomorrow…come back to sparring at a later date.”

“It’s not like my face is permanently broken,” Cassidy pointed out. “I heal shockingly well…all of this will be gone by morning.”

“Good night Cassidy,” Kayla snapped, grabbing the Asset’s shoulder and leading him out of the room.

“Good night Soldier!” Cassidy said in a flirtatious voice, which caused Kayla to slam the cell door behind them.

“What was that?” Kayla demanded of the Asset.

The Asset cocked his head, “What do you mean?”

“Take your pick!”

The Asset blinked, “She said not to pull punches…so I didn’t.”

“You need to ignore that order.”

“Why?”

“Because I said so!” Kayla snapped. “I don’t want her getting hurt, do you understand me?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Good…how did she do?”

“She’s strong,” The Asset stated. “Incredibly agile…stubborn, doesn’t like to surrender.”

“Makes sense,” Kayla mused. “Try taking her to the shooting range tomorrow…test her accuracy.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Dismissed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus, ends Chapter Five. A little interaction between Case and Bucky, testing the waters a little more on what he remembers and what’s coming back…constructive criticism is always appreciated, I hope you enjoyed this latest installment and I’ll see you in Chapter Six.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Chapter Six…I was having a bit of trouble with this one. I had an idea and ran with it, although I wonder if the events in this chapter should have come later in the story? I don’t know, let me know what you think…I hope you enjoy.

_“Sometimes I think you like getting punched.”_

_“I had him on the ropes.”_

_Something flashed before his eyes – a paper that read “Department of Selective Service, Certificate of Acceptability” across the top, with a large 4F stamped in the lower right corner._

_“Oh, you’re from Paramus now…you know it’s illegal to lie on an enlistment form. Seriously, Jersey?”_

_A blue uniform, a red and white striped shield…_

_“I had him on the ropes.”_

_“I know you did.”_

The Asset’s eyes opened as the door screeched open, and he sat up quickly before getting to his feet.

“Remember, she doesn’t get hurt,” Silverfox stated, arms folded as she stood in the doorway.

“She doesn’t want to be treated like she’s breakable,” The Asset pointed out.

“What she _wants_ is none of your concern,” Silverfox snapped. “Make sure she’s ready for whatever Pierce has in store for her, but _do not_ hurt her.”

“If she can’t handle _me_ then how can she handle what’s coming for her?”

Silverfox narrowed her eyes, “Just take her to the shooting range…and don’t shoot her in the process!”

The Asset simply blinked at her, then walked around her and out of the cell, boots surprisingly silent on the concrete floor.

It was silent up until he reached the cell in question, he opened the door and could hear her singing, _“Give him two lips, like roses and clover, and tell him that his lonesome nights are over.”_

She cut off and sat up on the mattress as he entered.

The Asset cocked his head at her, “Did you sleep?”

The Siren shook her head, “Nope…I was hoping ‘Mister Sandman’ would at least get me to relax…but the Chordettes didn’t help either.” She looked at him again, and gave a sigh as she added, “Then again…maybe they did.” Before he could even respond, she added, “There a reason you’re here?”

“Shooting practice,” That the Asset could answer.

The Siren… _Case her name is Case_ …gave a laugh at her own private joke, “I already know how to shoot. And I do it pretty damn well.”

“I doubt as well as I can.”

“No, never could reach that skill level,” She admitted.

“Doubt whoever taught you had my skill level either,” The Asset added as she got to her feet.

Case gave a snort at that, “Don’t sell yourself short.”

The Asset cocked an eyebrow at that but otherwise said nothing. He led her out of the cell and headed toward the shooting range, “Who taught you how to fight?”

“My brother and…” She chewed on her lip, “The sergeant I mentioned yesterday. Most of it I picked up while growing up with them, _and_ Steve…for a skinny guy with no muscle he sure tried to pack a punch.”

_“Sometimes I think you like getting punched.”_

His dream suddenly came to mind, and the Asset held his hand up level to Case’s head, “About your height…blond guy?”

“Well, not so much anymore but yeah,” Case nodded. She looked up at him, “You know Steve?”

“No,” The Asset said bluntly.

“But you just—?”

“Simple guess, means nothing.”

Case rolled her eyes, “Whatever…anyway, James and Ryder taught me how to fight over the years…growing up in Brooklyn with Steve kind of required it. Kid got into more fights than anyone I knew. The other two drove me nuts though…never threw a punch at full strength.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“Defeats the purpose of teaching you how to defend yourself if you don’t learn how to take a punch like a man,” Case snapped at him. “I know the object is to not get hit, but pulling punches never helped anybody.”

“Maybe they just didn’t like hitting you.”

“They _both_ knew I could take it…both knew what I was and what I could do.”

_“I don’t wanna hurt you, Cassidy.”_

_“I’m not gonna break James! Now hit me like you goddamn mean it!”_

The Asset shook his head, moving to rub at his temples.

“You alright?”

“I’m functional,” The Asset stated. “Just…got a headache.”

“Look, if you’re not feeling well, maybe we should just—”

“We have our orders,” The Asset cut her off. “We need to follow them.”

“According to who?”

“Silverfox.”

“She can get bent.”

The Asset lowered his hands, the rubbing wasn’t helping his headache in the slightest. “‘Get bent’?”

“Yeah…sorry I picked it up from my friend Tony,” Case frowned. “Look, I don’t care what Silverfox has to say, or what orders she has. If you’re not at one hundred percent, then we shouldn’t be doing this.”

“Orders have to be followed,” The Asset repeated as they reached the door to the indoor shooting range.

They walked through, signs posted in Russian stating the standard warnings about ear plugs and wait until firing stops before entering the range.

The space was empty – currently it was just the two of them.

“Wait here,” The Asset stated, and left the room.

He gathered the ear and eye protection, dropping it across the counter, leaving then returning with a nine-millimeter pistol and a few magazines of rounds.

He was hanging the target on a hook before Case spoke again.

“Why are we even doing this? I already know how to shoot.”

“Orders.”

“You keep saying that…can’t we just go back to sparring?”

“Silverfox doesn’t want you getting hurt.”

“For god’s sake James I’m not gonna shatter if you hit me!” Case snapped.

“That may be true, but she still doesn’t want you getting hurt, Cassidy!” The Asset snapped back. He flipped the switch to have the target move backward and turned back to where Case was still staring at him.

“Why did you call me that?”

“Call you what?”

“Cassidy.”

“It’s your name…you said so yourself,” The Asset answered.

Case blinked at him, then scowled as she put the earmuffs over her head, “ _Don’t_ do it again.”

“Why not?” The Asset asked in a raised voice, putting his own earmuffs on.

Case grabbed one of the magazines and slid it into place in the gun, taking aim and unloading the shots down the lane.

When the gun simply clicked when it was empty, The Asset flipped the switch to bring the target back toward them.

At one hundred yards, Case had unloaded the clip in center mass, never missing once.

She yanked the earmuffs off her head, “I spar and shoot on a damn near constant basis. I know what I’m doing when it comes to physical combat _and_ firing a gun.”

“Evidently…” The Asset commented, pulling the target down from the hooks.

“And I _hate_ it when Silverfox calls me ‘Cassidy’,” Case told him, slamming the earmuffs down on the counter. “And you can’t even tell me _why_ you’d even want to call me that in the first place!”

“I…it just seemed like the right thing to do.”

“Not good enough…don’t do it again.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Because it’s bad enough when Silverfox does it,” Case snapped. “But you? You can’t even remember why you used to do it to begin with! And if you can’t even tell me why you did it then I sure as hell don’t wanna hear it come out of your mouth!”

“I am _not_ James Barnes!”

“I don’t care who you are I just wanna go home and forget all about this god forsaken place!”

“Get it through your goddamn head!” The Asset roared, “You are _not_ going home! You belong to Hydra now!”

“I don’t _belong_ to anybody!”

“You’re not getting out of here, and that’s just facts.”

“Well…I see the two of you are getting along swimmingly,” A new voice called out from the doorway.

Case scowled as she turned to face the speaker, “What the hell do you want?”

Silverfox stepped forward, “Sorry to cut this short, but I was actually hoping to speak with you. Didn’t realize that you and the Asset would be screaming at each other rather than training.”

“There’s not much—”

“I wasn’t talking to you,” Silverfox barked, and The Asset shut his mouth with a snap.

“Don’t talk to him like that,” Case snapped at her.

Silverfox frowned, “Like what?”

“He was trying to give you an update, the last you could have done is hear him out.”

“The Asset is a weapon Cassidy, nothing more. Its role is to follow orders.”

Case looked from The Asset to Silverfox, and her shoulders slumped, “Evidently…”

“Now that that’s settled, come along Cassidy.”

 

* * *

 

“What do you want?” Case snapped as she followed her mother out of the shooting range.

“Well I _was_ going to warn you about staying away from the Asset…but it looks like you’re driving that wedge home yourself.”

“Stay away from the Asset?”

“You’ve been flirting with it,” Kayla pointed out. “It’s a weapon, nothing more.”

Case gritted her teeth, then asked, “How did you get him?”

“What?”

“You never answered my question,” Case told her. “ _How_ did you get him?”

Kayla sighed, “That’s…God it’s been a long time since…”

“Try and remember,” Case scowled at her.

Kayla rubbed at her forehead, “I…I remember them dragging him in. He was missing his left arm, they said he was laying at the bottom of a ravine.”

“A ravine…”

“Yeah…I remember thinking that was a horrible thing…must not have been liked very much by the rest of his men.”

That brought Case’s eyebrows up, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You lose one of your soldiers and you don’t go back for him?” Kayla asked. “I thought the whole idea was that nobody got left behind…and they left him to freeze to death in the snow.”

Case rubbed at her arm, “Maybe it wasn’t as simple as that…”

“Seems pretty simple to me.”

“Yeah but…” She started chewing on her lip.

She could remember the day Bucky fell…and while her mother made a fair point, there had been other factors to consider. They’d just captured Zola – the whole reason for that god-forsaken mission to begin with…they’d had to move fast, according to the little troll Schmidt was pushing his plans through and would have wiped out the Eastern seaboard, or so Howard had said…

And how were they supposed to know Bucky was still alive? They didn’t know what he’d been through with Zola, Bucky never said a word. She’d asked him, multiple times, but he’d never been too clear on what happened. Sometimes she’d wondered if _he_ wasn’t too clear on what happened, had just known that whatever it was had caused him a lot of pain in the process.

_But still…_

Why hadn’t they gone to look for him? They _should_ have – everyone was telling them that Bucky _and_ Ryder were most likely dead before they even started the Azzano rescue mission…and yet they still marched their way into that factory and rescued Bucky and Ryder and the rest of the 107th.

She’d been so angry at the rest of the Howlies…Bucky’s brothers in arms that had served with him long before Steve and Case came into the picture, and they hadn’t even bothered showing up when she and Ryder and Steve were mourning him…but now it sounded like _they_ were no better. They’d just left Bucky behind, counted him lost, and left him for Hydra to find.

“Cassidy…are you alright?”

Case had stopped dead in her tracks, reaching out and using the wall for support. She thought her legs were going to give out, and her stomach was churning as tears filled her eyes. She was having a hard time catching her breath…

“Cassidy?”

_“C’est notre faute…”_ Case whispered, closing her eyes as tears rolled down her cheeks. _We left him behind…we abandoned him…_

“What are you talking about…what’s your fault?”

_“Rien...rien, je vais bien,”_ Case said quickly.

“You’re white as a ghost,” Kayla frowned, “You look like you’re having a panic attack.”

_“Ramène-moi à ma cellule…”_

“Cassidy, I can’t—”

_“S'il vous plaît...Je ne peux pas…”_ She scrunched her eyes shut, _“Il suffit de me ramener...S'il vous plaît…”_

“Are you sure you shouldn’t go to Medical; they have—”

_“Il suffit de me ramener et de me laisser seul!”_ Case roared at her.

Kayla frowned, lips forming into a thin line as she said, “Alright…fine.”

Case scrubbed at her cheeks, trying to maintain what little composure she had on the short walk back to her cell. Kayla said nothing as Case walked inside and locked the door behind her.

Case dropped onto the mattress, pulled the thin blanket over her head and buried her face in the pillow, sobbing uncontrollably into the white fabric.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, working with Bing Translator, so this is how the translation should go:  
>  “Cassidy?”  
>  “This is our fault…” Case whispered, closing her eyes as tears rolled down her cheeks. We left him behind…we abandoned him…  
>  “What are you talking about…what’s your fault?”  
>  “Nothing…nothing, I’m fine,” Case said quickly.   
>  “You’re white as a ghost,” Kayla frowned, “You look like you’re having a panic attack.”  
>  “Take me back to my cell…”  
>  “Cassidy, I can’t—”  
>  “Please…I can’t…” She scrunched her eyes shut, “Just take me back…please…”  
>  “Are you sure you shouldn’t go to Medical; they have—”  
>  “Just take me back and leave me alone!” Case roared at her.   
>  Kayla frowned, lips forming into a thin line as she said, “Alright…fine.”


	7. Chapter 7

“What’s going on here?” Kayla shouted as she entered the room.

She’d left Cassidy the previous day in her cell, leaving the woman alone as she’d demanded. Today she’d walked in but found the room empty, with nothing but the mussed covers and a rather damp pillow.

“She’s not fighting back…” The Asset’s eyes were glued to the glass in front of him, where Kayla walked over to stand and observe.

Cassidy was in the room, taking hit after hit from their blonde female soldier, face purpling and blood dripping from her nose and mouth.

“Why isn’t she fighting back?” The Asset whispered to himself.

“What is this?” Kayla demanded.

“Pierce ordered the Siren be tested,” The Asset explained.

Kayla could see Pierce watching safely from the opposite side of the locked bars with the rest of the soldiers, the group of men quietly observing the massacre that was unfolding. “You said she was agile 3and fast… _you_ said she could _do_ this!”

“She _can_ fight,” The Asset confirmed. “She’s just…”

“Laying down and taking it,” Kayla finished the thought as Case stumbled before finally falling to the ground.

Her eyes were blackened, blood dripped from multiple cuts on her face and both nostrils, and her lip was split open.

“Come on, Cassidy, get up!” Kayla snapped, even though she was positive Cassidy couldn’t hear her. “If you can’t fight her you won’t stand a chance against the rest of them!”

“Come on,” The Asset snapped, heading for the door that would lead them into the training area. 

Cassidy was still laying on the floor, the shallower cuts were already healing over.

_“Lève-toi!”_ The Asset barked at her, earning a glare from Kayla. _“Tu es mieux que ça!”_

Cassidy slowly got to her feet, standing on shaky legs, casting an exhausted glare at him, _“Dis-toi que.”_ She spit blood onto the concrete floor before she wiped at her nose, giving a wince as she eyed the crusted blood that came off on her hand.

Without warning the blonde soldier was back with a sharp knife in her hand. She grabbed Cassidy by the shoulder and slid the blade across her neck, slicing her throat open.

The mutant was down on her knees again as blood poured out of the wound, her chest shuddering as she tried to gasp for air but could only choke on her own blood.

The blonde soldier dropped the bloody knife with a smirk, and she turned to walk away as she said, “Too easy.”

_“Mauvaise réponse,”_ The Asset whispered as Cassidy glared up at the blonde.

The woman had turned her back and walked toward the other end of the room.

The bleeding from Cassidy’s neck wound stopped moments later, and she slowly got to her feet, making her way toward the discarded knife.

She opened her mouth to shout something at the other woman…but no sound came out. She tried repeatedly but the best that came out was a raspy wheeze. Her grip went white-knuckled around the knife and she stomped her foot repeatedly.

That got the soldier’s attention and she turned back around.

Cassidy reared back and loudly hocked up a combination of blood and mucus, spitting it into the corner of the room.

“Well, that’s very ladylike,” Kayla mumbled as she watched Cassidy wipe at the blood on her neck.

“You say that like she gives a shit about being ladylike,” The Asset murmured back.

Cassidy continued to wipe the blood away, shrugging when she realized it was a lost cause. She then twirled the knife in her fingers, and in a raspy voice managed to say, “You didn’t think it would be that easy to kill me, did you?”

She threw the knife, giving a small grin as it embedded itself in the woman’s shoulder, taking pleasure in the cry of pain she gave.

That was when Cassidy went on the defensive – streaking across the room and throwing her right fist into the blonde’s face. Blow after blow, moving so quick the blonde had trouble blocking Cassidy at all.

As the blonde backed up a few steps to try and gain momentum, Cassidy raced forward and did a flying tackle, sending both into the ground.

The fight stopped when Cassidy’s claws came out – pinning the blonde soldier to the ground with one of each side of her throat, the middle claw still sheathed.

“You can’t kill me,” Cassidy rasped, “But I sure as hell can kill you.”

“Enough,” Kayla snapped. “Let her up.”

Cassidy retracted her claws and got to her feet, heading toward Kayla and the Asset. When she reached them, Kayla touched her shoulder, “Come with me…let’s get you cleaned up.”

Cassidy shrugged the hand off, but followed behind her, rubbing at her throat in discomfort.

 

* * *

 

The Asset was furious…no, that wasn’t the right word, it wasn’t enough.

He’d fought the Siren…that match should have been easily won by the mutant. But she _didn’t_ fight back, and Case Howlett _always_ fought back.

She’d leapt onto a kid’s back when he was beating up Steve when they were kids, she had thrown punches at men in bars because they got a little _too_ friendly after a few drinks.        

She’d smacked _him_ a few times too…he could remember the power she had behind that right hook of hers.

The Asset _knew_ her, and little by little more about her was coming back to him. So that was why he was storming his way toward her cell, wanting to know _exactly_ what had happened back there.

However, when he reached her cell and looked at her, the wind completely left his sails.

Case was sitting on the mattress, back pressed flat against the wall, hair still wet from a recent shower, waves a mess around her head like she hadn’t combed it. She didn’t even look up at him as she entered, just stared at the empty space in front of her, lost in her own little world.

He closed the door behind him and sat down at the foot of the mattress, and her head tilted slightly to the right, her glazed eyes locking onto him. He tried to think of something to say, but could only come up with, “You look like shit.”

That got a sigh through her nose and a cringe of pain, before she raised her hands.

“You’re…no…prize…yourself,” The Asset translated from sign language, then his brows went up, “Excuse me, I thought you said I was ‘downright sexy’.”

A scowl and more gestures.

“I…lied…” The Asset cocked an eyebrow, “Well that’s just rude.”

More gestures, _I don’t care._

The Asset scrubbed a hand over his face, “Why are you signing anyway? I thought you healed yourself.”

_The wound is sealed,_ Case signed at him. _The pain didn’t go away. My throat feels like it’s on fire, and I don’t want to talk and aggravate it._

“Yeah, well, I want an explanation.”

_For what?_

“What just happened in there,” The Asset said, “Why didn’t you fight back?”

_Didn’t want to._

“Why not?”

_Who cares?_

“I do,” The Asset told her. “You’ve never backed down from a fight before…it’s one of the things I loved about you.”

_“What?”_ She rasped, mouthing a pained ‘ow’ afterward.

“Why didn’t you fight back?” The Asset repeated, in a tone that said to forget the last comment.

Case gave another sigh, _it’s what I deserved._

The Asset frowned, “What are you talking about? Why did you deserve a beating?”

_Just forget it, James,_ Case signed, _it doesn’t matter anymore…it was years ago._

“It matters, _Cassidy_ ,” The Asset snapped. “Because I don’t wanna see you get beaten like that…not when I know you can prevent it!”

_Stop calling me ‘Cassidy’._

“Then stop calling me ‘James’!” The Asset told her. At her confused look, he explained, “ _That’s_ what’s causing the slips. You call me ‘James’ and I call you ‘Cassidy’…that’s the way it’s always been since I learned your name.”

Case narrowed her eyes at him, then signed, _I thought you weren’t James Barnes._

He scrubbed a hand over his face, “Look…I know you…but I can’t remember meeting you before in my life. I had a vague dream last night where I saw this little girl hanging off a punk kid’s back, with a skinny blond kid who had a black eye.”

_I would say that’s the day we met but I did that a few times to help Steve,_ Case admitted.

“I know I’m not supposed to talk about your mutations…even though Silverfox tried to tell me about them,” The Asset continued. “I know _you_ told me to never talk about them with anyone…but I don’t know when that happened.”

_So, what are you saying?_

“I’m saying there’s a lot that I don’t know…and there’s a lot of holes, and a few things scattered in between,” The Asset admitted. “But…I’m starting to think…maybe you’re right, and I’m wrong.”

_Does that mean I need to start calling you ‘James’?_

The Asset mulled that over in his head. The more he thought about it, the more familiar it sounded, but it didn’t sound quite right. “It’s not like I could stop you.”

_Do you want me to? Yes or no?_

He took a deep breath, thought about the fragments he had in his broken mind, “Let me get back to you on that.”

_Rain check then._

 

* * *

 

“What the hell was that?”

Kayla sat at her desk, rubbing at her temples, “What the hell was what?”

Pierce slammed the office door behind her and stormed over to her desk, “That…she didn’t try at first! She just…”

“Let herself get beaten, I saw the same thing you did.”

“So, I repeat, _what the hell was that?_ ”

“I haven’t the faintest idea,” Kayla admitted.

“We need to wipe her…we need to start programming,” Pierce snapped. “We can’t just wait for something to trigger her in order to start—”

“We’re not wiping her memories,” Kayla said firmly.

“I don’t understand—”

“You have to keep wiping the Asset when he starts asking questions,” Kayla snapped. “The injury the Siren took during the fight would have killed a normal human…do you _really_ think our methods would keep her in compliance? She’s too strong willed…odds are very good that her mind would heal itself within hours and you’d be right back where you started.”

“So, what do you suggest?”

Kayla tapped her fingers on her desk, “That’s what I’m trying to figure out. She’s…fascinated by the Asset…perhaps there’s something there we can use.”

“Get back to me when you’ve got something substantial,” Pierce said, then left the office, slamming the door behind him.

Kayla sighed, and went back to rubbing at her temples. While she didn’t have anything concrete, any idiot could make the connection between the depression Cassidy had developed and the willingness to get her face repeatedly broken by a stranger.

Had she known him? It would make sense, especially with the Asset’s insistence that Cassidy had told him not to talk about her mutations.

Although…that could simply mean that he’d known Logan in the past and had found out about the twins. She and Logan had discussed the possibility of the twins being mutants like themselves before they’d been born.

Logan had wanted secrecy. He hadn’t even wanted Victor to know about them – Kayla couldn’t blame him in the slightest, after everything that had happened between the two, and that was _before_ Hydra.

She’d left the twins to protect them – all she wanted was to keep her children safe. Victor had said Hydra was getting closer to her location, and the last thing she had wanted them to find was Ryder or Cassidy, so she’d decided to turn herself in.

When she’d told Logan about the decision, he’d been furious. He couldn’t see how her rejoining Hydra would be beneficial, even though she’d argued someone working on the inside could keep them off his trail and keep the twins safe.

Logan had insisted that they could keep them safe, _together_ …Kayla didn’t see how. Hydra would keep coming, she had no doubt of that, the organization didn’t like losing what it felt belonged to them.

Their last days together had been terrible…one of the last things Logan had said to her was to stay gone if she insisted on following through with the idea.

That was why twenty years had passed before she caught sight of her son again…and ninety before she saw her daughter.

She was trying to remember the factory, trying to remember what she was doing there in the first place…but the memories were far too murky. The only thing she could remember clearly was Ryder…she could never forget the haunted look in his eyes, like he’d lost something dear to him.

Getting back to the task at hand…Kayla shook the memories away.

The Asset…she had a feeling there was something there.

Clearly, they had crossed paths before…but how? When?

Kayla sighed. She’d have to try and get the answers out of Cassidy…if she couldn’t, she’d have to go back through Zola’s records, maybe she’d find some clues there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus ends Chapter Seven. A little bit on Kayla’s perspective on why she left the way she did. And Bucky’s clearly getting more back…still isn’t convinced he’s James Barnes, but we’re getting there.  
> Constructive criticism is always appreciated, and I’ll see you guys in Chapter Eight.  
> Oh, and before I forget, again don’t speak French, but these are how the translations should go:  
> Cassidy was still laying on the floor, the shallower cuts were already healing over.  
> “Get up!” The Asset barked at her, earning a glare from Kayla. “You’re better than this!”  
> Cassidy slowly got to her feet, standing on shaky legs, casting an exhausted glare at him, “Keep tellin’ yourself that.” She spit blood onto the concrete floor before she wiped at her nose, giving a wince as she eyed the crusted blood that came off on her hand.  
> And…  
> The blonde soldier dropped the bloody knife with a smirk, and she turned to walk away as she said, “Too easy.”  
> “Wrong answer,” The Asset whispered as Cassidy glared up at the blonde.


	8. Chapter 8

“So, who is Bucky?”

“You’re just never gonna let that go, are you?” Case asked.

She had her elbow braced against a silver metal table, chin in her hand, in a room that Kayla had led her to. There was a large window that Case couldn’t see through, she wasn’t sure if there was anyone on the other side or not.

“Why do you get so defensive when he’s mentioned?”

Case sat back in her chair, chewing on her lip. _Of course I’m defensive…I was in love with him, you’ve been hiding him here for decades…and basically outlined how the entire thing could have been avoided if we’d gone looking for him…_ she gave a tired sigh and rubbed at her eyes, trying to hide the tears that suddenly sprang up at the thought. In a weary voice she said, “He was my friend…I miss him. Not that hard to figure out. What do you fuckin’ want me to say?”

“Anything Cassidy…I want to know more about you.”

“Really? Because it sounds like you want to know more about Bucky,” Case rolled her eyes.

“He was a friend of yours…of course I have questions.”

“But you’ve never once asked for any details about Steve, Gabe, Morita, Dum—”

“Okay fine, you win,” Kayla cut her off.

“So, what do you possibly think you can accomplish with any information about Bucky?” Case asked.

“I don’t…I just wondered why he’s such a tender subject for you.”

“I don’t like losing people I care about…what is so hard to understand about that?” Case demanded. “If I remember right the shrinks call it ‘abandonment issues’.”

“Abandonment issues…”

“Yeah, see they think because my mother disappeared without a trace when I was a child it affected aspects of my personality,” Case folded her arms across her chest and propped her feet up on the table, ignoring Kayla’s glare. “I know it fueled a lifetime of insomnia, that’s for damn sure.”

“Insomnia?”

“I wake up afraid everyone I know is gone…left in the middle of the night, never to return. Some nights I can just chill and wait it out…others I have to make a few rounds around the Tower to make sure everyone’s alright…although lately I’ve just been hangin’ out with Tony in his lab.”

“Really?”

“Yeah…see, he’s got his own problems, and so our insomnia clocks kinda synchronized,” Case explained. When she saw the look on her mother’s face, she added, “Yeah, my last doctor gave me that look too…anyway, he told me to come down and help him in his lab rather than make my way through an IMDB page.”

“IMDB?” Kayla repeated.

“Internet Movie Database…you know…where you can look up a specific actor…” She trailed off as her mother just stared at her. “You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?”

“Please, Cassidy, I don’t live under a rock,” Kayla frowned.

“My mistake…” Case admitted, shifting in her seat.

It grew quiet after that, until Kayla finally said, “I’m…I’m sorry Cassidy.”

“About what? Running away to join Hydra over ninety years ago? For deciding that _this_ band of yahoos was better than staying with your family?”

“Cassidy, I did what I thought was right—”

“Oh, I can see that,” Case agreed. She decided at this point to get to her feet, keeping the metal table between her and her mother. “Fighting for the bad guys rather than raising your children…the same bad guys that Ryder and I fought to bring down during the war.”

“Look, Hydra wants the same thing you and your own band of idiots want,” Kayla frowned at her.

“Oh really? Do tell.”

“We want peace, just like you.”

“No… _we_ want peace and freedom for everyone,” Case corrected her. “ _You_ want to create a false peace by controlling the masses through fear…not the same thing by a long shot.”

“Hydra is order through pain,” Kayla admitted quietly. “No matter what you look at you have to go through a little bit of pain to get there.”

“I’d like to respectfully disagree,” Case said with a huff, “Because _again_ you want control not freedom.”

Kayla just gave a shrug, like she wasn’t believing the grand plan of Hydra any more than Case did.

Case gave a sigh as she wrapped her arms around her chest, leaning back against the wall as she said, “Tell me about the Asset.”

Kayla cocked her head, “Why?”

“Curiosity,” Case told her. “You said you found him at the bottom of a ravine…with his left arm missing…what happened after that?”

Kayla thought for a few moments, “Zola…he was…fascinated by him. He…”

Case couldn’t help but give a snort of disbelief that that. “And what was so special about him?”

“I don’t know,” Kayla told her. “At least…not at first. He was just like the others, brought into the infirmary with pneumonia. I assumed he’d die like rest, but that one…”

Case stared down at her boots, “Apparently he proved hard to kill.”

“Zola started his experiments early on…asked him questions, as he did the others, but he didn’t crack…all he said was the same thing over and over again…sorta became his mantra.”

Case gave a nod, and quietly murmured, “Sergeant…Three-two-five-five-seven…Barnes.”

Kayla looked up at her, “Yeah, that’s right.”

Case felt her teeth grinding together, and she moved her jaw to loosen it, “Couldn’t have been _that_ fascinated by him considering he grabbed everything and ran off to save his own ass, leaving the Sergeant behind.”

“How did you know that?”

Case blinked at her, “Know what?”

“That…what you just said. The ‘Sergeant…Three-two-five-five-seven…Barnes.’ How did you know that?”

_Because I woke up to that way too many times to count during the war,_ Case took a breath, “I heard it because I was _there_. I was part of Steve’s rescue mission at Azzano.”

“You’re joking.”

Case’s eyebrows went up, “You didn’t know? Hell, Steve and I watched Zola race out of the laboratory just before we found Sergeant Barnes…watched Red Skull put a fist sized dent in Steve’s stage shield.”

Kayla blinked, “I…I’d heard rumors…but…Jesus Cassidy that was seventy years ago—”

“But you can remember the mantra just fine,” Case rolled her eyes.

“So, can you!”

“What was seventy for _you_ was only about two for me,” Case snapped.

“Cassidy—”

“What did Zola do to Sergeant Barnes?” Case finally demanded, beyond tired of getting derailed.

Kayla seemed confused, “What do you mean?”

“Don’t play dumb now…we both know that’s who your Asset really is…so why don’t you just answer my question. What the hell did that little troll do to him?”

Kayla’s shoulders slumped, “He was working on the same enhancements that Schmidt had used…among other things they were looking for their own super soldier serum. Sergeant Barnes survived whatever procedures Zola inflicted on him…which, as you can see, helped him survive until Hydra found him.”

“We’ve already established that…what did he do to him?”

“I just told you—”

“You just told me _how_ he survived the fall,” Case said testily. “But you didn’t tell me what he did to him.”

Kayla gave a sigh, “He…he was pretty… _broken_ when we found him. Zola outfitted him with the metal arm, didn’t even bother with an anesthetic, just started cutting and wiring and…” She flinched, “Sometimes I can still hear the screaming.”

Case grabbed at the backs of her hands, feeling the blades shifting. She rubbed her thumbs over the space below her knuckles, trying to keep them sheathed.

“From there…the Asset fought back,” Kayla went on. “He…he didn’t submit easily. He never _really_ stopped fighting, but the news of you and Ryder and the Captain going into the ice hurt him. That I remember…”

“He knew?” Case asked.

“I…” Kayla hesitated, then looked at the floor, “Look, Cassidy…it was a different time, and—”

“What did you do?”

“That Asset is a weapon, Cassidy, you need to understand—”

“What did you _do_?” Case asked again, her voice a little shrill.

Kayla swallowed roughly, “I…I went in with the newspapers. At the time, he didn’t understand Russian, and he told me as such...copped an attitude when he did.”

“Sounds about right.”

“So, I told him to just give up. No one was coming for him…his brothers in arms had abandoned him, his precious Captain had crashed a plane and was dead. He didn’t believe me…so I handed him one that was written in English.” Kayla scrubbed a hand over her face, “His face went…liquid paper white. His hands shook…he started yelling that it was a trick, that there was no way any of you could have died.”

_He really believed that?_ Case was a little shocked. Bucky had always argued that they had no proof the twins were indestructible, that of _course_ there had to be something out there that could take them out…just because they hadn’t found it yet didn’t make it untrue.

“He just crumbled,” Kayla continued, looking lost in the memory. “I remember…because it’s what I wanted to do when I found out. I remember…I punched him.”

Case’s eyes shot to her, “You _what?_ ”

“Not one of my prouder moments,” Kayla admitted. “But he just kept ranting about how I was a lying bitch and that it was impossible for all three of you to be gone, so I punched him…and then I asked him how he could be so stupid. The Captain and the Howletts were dead…they weren’t coming back, and nobody was coming for him. He was useless…he was nobody, nothing. Nobody came for him because nobody cared—”

She cut off with a grunt of pain as Case’s fist contacted her cheekbone.

With a yell Case then grabbed her by her shirt and slammed her against the wall, “Don’t you _ever_ say that about him again!”

“Cassidy—”

“He was my _friend,_ ” Case snarled up at her mother. “He was _family_ …he meant a hell of a lot more to me than you _ever_ will!”

“The Asset was left alone in the cold—”

_“Stop calling him that!”_

“He would’ve died if we hadn’t found him.”

“You say that like I should be grateful,” Case spat. “Grateful you tortured him for years…made him forget who the hell he was and what he stood for.”

“You _abandoned_ him.”

“Do you really think that if we had known he was still alive we would’ve just left him there?”

“It’s not like you made the effort to retrieve his body.”

Case stepped back, chest heaving in anger. With a yell she whirled around and sent her claws through the metal table, screaming as she kicked half of it across the room. It flew into the wall and bounced off, giving a loud clang as it landed. She whirled around to Kayla, “Get me outta here.”

“We’re not finished—”

“No, we’re done,” Case snarled. “There is nothing left to discuss.”

“There’s plenty—”

“If I stay in this room any moment longer, I’m going to rip your goddamn head off!” Case shouted.

 

* * *

 

James’s boots made little noise as he made his way toward Kayla Silverfox’s office. As he passed by the corridor to Case’s cell, he heard the familiar voice screaming incoherently followed by metallic clanging sounds.

He paused to turn down that way instead, but locked eyes with the guard at the desk positioned at the end of the hallway and thought better of it. He’d go check on her later when he knew the post would be empty.

The screaming and clanging faded into the distance as he continued deeper into the facility, knocking on the door and entering when she called.

Kayla Silverfox was perched over her desk, various papers and photos covering the surface. She was holding a black and white photo of Case standing next to a familiar dark-haired man.

Silverfox turned the snapshot toward him, “Do you recognize him?”

James cocked his head at the photo, “I know him.”

“What’s his name?”

“I don’t know.”

Silverfox sighed, “Okay…”

“By the way…do you know the Siren is screaming?”

“Yes, she’s throwing a temper tantrum.”

“Why?”

“I told her some unpleasant truths…she didn’t appreciate it,” Silverfox shrugged. “You said you knew them…do you remember how?”

James shook his head, “No, I don’t…I just know them.”

“You don’t recall meeting them on a previous mission?”

James just shook his head.

She shuffled through the papers on her desk and held up another photo, this one of a man with thick dark hair and sideburns that disappeared into his beard with a cigar held in his mouth.

Something about the image made James stand a little straighter, the face brought with it a combination of respect and intimidation.

“He has claws like the Siren,” James remembered.

“Yes, he does,” Silverfox nodded. “Do you remember his name?”

James shook his head.

“But you recognize the faces?”

This time James nodded, “I know them…”

Silverfox nodded, “I see…” She put the photo down on the table and laced her fingers together, “I want you to continue sparring with the Siren. She seems friendlier to you…maybe we can get some information out of her.”

“You want me to interrogate her?”

“Nothing like that,” Silverfox shook her head. “Just…talk to her. See if you can get her to open up about things with you.”

“Why?” James asked in confusion.

“The Siren is a fighter,” Silverfox explained. “We can’t…she’s not going to conform to Hydra easily.”

James blinked at her, “You want to break the Siren.”

“That’s not…quite what I meant, but basically, yes,” Silverfox admitted. “I can’t hold off Pierce forever…and as much as I _don’t_ want to do it, I really don’t have a choice. I don’t believe the traditional methods of control will work with her.”

James wanted to protest – Case was perfect the way she was, she didn’t need to be broken and pieced back together by Hydra…he couldn’t tell Silverfox that though. While he didn’t remember much, he remembered the less he spoke about the longer it would be before they wiped him.

“What do I need to do?” James asked.

“Nothing…just…” Silverfox frowned, seeming to choose her words carefully. “Just be her friend.”

“Be her friend but report everything to you?”

“Basically,” Silverfox nodded.

James mulled that over, it didn’t sit well with him.

“Dismissed, _Soldat_ ,” Silverfox said, already having gone back to her documents and photos.

James gave a quick nod then left the office, not sure how to proceed. He wasn’t supposed to know much outside of how to kill and what weapons to use…how to be a friend was not something he was familiar with or trained in.

But Silverfox had a point, Case was more receptive to him. Maybe she could help him figure out how to be a friend…the Silverfox part he could figure out later.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus, Chapter Eight ends. I hope you all enjoyed this update, constructive criticism is always appreciated, and I shall see you in Chapter Nine.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Chapter Nine. Along with all things Marvel, I do not own Mila or Peter Hitzig, nor “The Drain” – those are characters referenced in the comic series, Winter Soldier: The Bitter March. No prior knowledge for The Bitter March is necessary for this fic, although I would recommend it because it’s a pretty good read, otherwise I will cover anything necessary to the plot in the future chapters. For those of you that have read The Bitter March…I’m sure you’ll be able to see where Chapter Ten is headed.   
> I hope you all enjoy the latest installment, and any constructive criticism is always appreciated.

Winter of 1966, back during the days where Department X, Red Room, and Hydra were working as three separate functioning entities…unlike the odd conglomeration under the umbrella term ‘Hydra’ that they were today.

Mila Hitzig had created something called the ‘Alchemy Formula’ – SHIELD was assisting her and her snake of a husband Peter, while the Red Room and Department X were trying to keep her quiet.

The snake had called for Hydra reinforcements, which had started a chain reaction and culminating in a disaster of epic proportions which also involved Department X having to hunt down their missing Winter Soldier.

“So, what does a dead scientist have to do with reprogramming the Siren?”

Kayla jumped slightly and she looked up from her documents at Alexander Pierce. She’d dismissed the Asset a few hours before and hadn’t heard the office door open. “I was going over some of the old files…the Asset crossed paths with her back in nineteen sixty-six.”

“Alright…and that connects to this situation…how?”

“To be honest…it doesn’t.”

“Then why are you looking into that mess?” Pierce asked. “Zola had a hell of a time reprogramming him after that.”

Kayla chewed on her lip and gave a sigh. Although she had crossed paths with Mila Hitzig – sweet woman, deserved better than an idiot that constantly tried to take credit for her work – Kayla’s focus was on the Asset.      

When Mila’s body had been recovered, they’d found the Asset with her. He’d been trying to protect her, kept insisting that he was called James…at least until they got him back into the laboratory and had to start over from scratch.

“It’s not so much her…but The Drain.”

“The what?”

“He was one of the assassins Hydra had on payroll back then,” Kayla explained. “He was from Iceland, Chancellor Cassandra’s right hand.”

“Oh yes, now I remember him,” Pierce sighed. “One of the more successful assassins…he utilized psychic abilities am I correct?”

“That’s what they said, yeah,” Kayla nodded. “But my question is how did he break the Asset?”

“You think the two are connected?”

“What else would have done it?”

“From what we gathered, the Asset was already breaking programming,” Pierce explained.

“I’ve got the reports,” Kayla waved the file she was currently reading, “Says he had, quote, _irregular readouts_ , and he reported that he’d been electrocuted and suffered hallucinations.”

“That’s one hell of a hallucination.”

“But the Asset has had hallucinations before,” Kayla argued. “Nothing on that scale that could bypass the programming completely. And The Drain _was_ pretty skillful with his powers.”

“I guess it _is_ possible he was responsible…the Asset wasn’t really interested in cooperation at the time.”

“I remember…the boys did a _lot_ of work on him to get him back into fighting shape…” Kayla finally closed the file and turned to Pierce, “So what brings you in here?”

“Just wondered if you were making any progress?”

“No…I wanted to do some more research into our methods with the Asset. I don’t want to do anything to erase the Siren until we know it can be long-lasting…might render her useless otherwise.”

“So, you think maybe psychic powers would work best?”

Kayla shook her head, “It’s a possibility, but the Siren’s got an iron will. She’s got her hair triggers, but I can’t get enough out of her to make them be useful, and the way she fights everything tells me those triggers are just going to make our work harder not easier.” At Pierce’s sigh, she added, “Look it took Zola time to make progress with the Asset to begin with. No one said this was going to be quick.”

“I just don’t see why we can’t just wipe her and get it over with.”

“So that when she’s healed, she’ll be even more pissed off in about twenty-four to forty-eight hours?” Kayla asked. “Then you have to start the whole process over again? _Think_ Pierce…what the hell do you think that would solve?”

“Wolverine’s memories seem to be gone.”

“ _Wolverine_ took an adamantium bullet to the forehead,” Kayla rolled her eyes. At the thoughtful look that appeared on Pierce’s face, she scowled, “If you even _consider_ it, I will pull out my gun and shoot you between the eyes.”

“Alright, no adamantium bullets,” Pierce rolled his eyes.

“If we’re done here, I’d like to finish this _alone_ ,” Kayla told him. “It’s really slow going, and I can’t work with you here hovering over my shoulder.”

Pierce cast her an annoyed glare and left the room, slamming the door behind him.

Kayla took a deep breath and walked over to the door, sliding the locking mechanism into place. Part of her felt a little guilty for what she was about to do…but the situation was out of her hands. Once Hydra got involved in anything…they didn’t let anything slip out of their tentacles, so to speak.

Behind the desk in her office was a large plate glass window. It overlooked the chamber where the Asset was reprogrammed. With the curtains drawn she could see the monitors and the chair designed to wipe the Asset’s memories. Everything was dark and empty for now…of course, that would soon change.

Taking a deep breath, Kayla turned away from the sight, going back to the file she’d been reading.

The Asset had always had a weakness to electricity, and despite the insulation of the cybernetics and the installation of the shock dampeners, like all living organisms the Asset _still_ wasn’t immune to electrical shocks, a weakness Kayla planned to utilize if all went well.

The psychic thing seemed simple to move past – the trigger words they’d instilled in the Asset was all part of his conditioning, and while the files stated that after the Asset’s encounter with the Drain they were looking into ways that could prevent any psychic manipulations, it appeared she scientists hadn’t exactly mastered the idea of a psychic ability block, which was also going to work well in Kayla’s favor.

Now…she just needed to figure out a plan to put all this into motion.

 

* * *

 

Case finally collapsed at the foot of the mattress, chest heaving as she came down from the fury she’d just let loose.

The second the door closed behind her the walls started closing in. She’d grabbed one of the poles from the cot and tried beating the mattress which hadn’t helped so she’d instead turned her anger on the empty carts beside the cot…which were now lying in splintered pieces from where she’d bashed them with the pole.

When those were destroyed, she turned toward the brick wall in front of her, bashing the pole repeatedly against it. It bent the metal pole and chipped the paint on the bricks…which led Case to then start just punching the wall with her bare hands.

The only thing that brought her down was the fact the pain was too intense…or she’d still be punching.

Her hands were trembling, purple from the bruises forming from the hits, and dripping blood from where they’d split. The only thing that didn’t seem to be harmed were the bones, which since they were infused with Adamantium the bricks weren’t strong enough to hurt them.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she tried flexing her fingers…and couldn’t bite back the yelp of pain as she gave up immediately.

She wasn’t even sure what she was mad at, to be honest. All these years later she was still angry with the rest of the Howling Commandos for never seeming to give Bucky a second thought once he was gone.

Now she was kicking herself, along with Ryder and Steve, for not going back for Bucky to begin with.

Burning hatred like this was usually saved for something horrible…like the troll that was Arnim Zola. She never thought she’d add her mother to the list…

Case stared at her hands, watching as the blood dried and the split skin slowly patched itself back together. Her fingers were still swollen however, and she could barely move them.

Her hands though were the least of her worries. She… _hurt_. Her body was filled with a deep ache, it made her muscles weak and she just didn’t want to move. She hadn’t felt this bad since they were defrosted, as everything sunk in about what had happened, that the rest of their team, almost all their friends, anyone they’d been associated with was _gone_.

Not to mention she kept going back to that stupid fight she and Bucky had had before the train mission. She hadn’t wanted him to go…she hadn’t wanted Zola anywhere he could get his grubby mitts on Bucky ever again.

Hell, she hadn’t even been able to give him a simple apology for her comments. She could’ve just said she loved him and talked to him like an adult and…well, the result more than likely still would have been the same, but at least they wouldn’t have been in the middle of a fight when he fell.

Which brought her to her mother’s comments. She didn’t want to believe it was their fault all this happened…they hadn’t known. If they’d have known there was a chance to save him, Case firmly believed that they would’ve gone after him. Neither Steve nor Ryder would’ve let Bucky freeze alone in the snow had they known he was still alive.

And then there was Peggy. Peggy hadn’t believed any of them were to blame…Bucky had been on the train of his own free will, had agreed before everything started to follow the skinny kid from Brooklyn into the jaws of death.

“Are you alright?”

Case jumped at the question, and turned around, hissing in pain from her stiff muscles, “What makes you think I’m not?”

“No reason,” The Asset said, nudging one of the broken carts with the toe of his boot. “You’ve just been staring at that wall for about five minutes…”

“That explains why my back hurts,” Case admitted, stretching and twisting to loosen up.

“What happened to your hands?”

Case looked at the backs of her hands, the blood had dried in streaks, but the skin had healed, and the swelling was going down, “Punched the wall.”

“We should…we should clean you up,” The Asset said, ducking his head out the still open door.

Case cocked an eyebrow at him, “There a problem?”

“You’re technically…not authorized to leave the cell unless Silverfox is with you—”

Case’s jaw clenched so tightly she heard something crack. “Keep that woman as far away from me as possible.”

“Can’t control that,” The Asset said. “But what I _can_ do is check to see if the coast is clear so I can get you to a sink.”

“That…that’s alright I guess…”

“Come on,” The Asset stated, pushing the door open farther and allowing her to step outside. He led her down through the facility, opening the door to the showers near the training area.

Along one of the walls was a row of sinks, illuminated by a few bare bulbs hanging from the ceiling.

Case walked over and turned on one of the taps, running her hands under the ice-cold spray. A bar of soap was shoved under her nose. “Thank you…” Case took it and scrubbed her hands, watching as the bar went from white to pink as she worked the lather over her knuckles.

“Why’d you start punching?” The Asset asked.

In the mirror above the sinks, Case could see he was standing with his back against the door, arms folded across his chest. “I was…I don’t know, I was angry and…just seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“Had to have been painful.”

“After a while it was,” Case admitted.

“Are you better now?”

“Not in the slightest.”

The Asset nodded, then added, “If it makes you feel any better…Silverfox has agreed to let us spar again.”

Case focused on scrubbing dried blood from under her fingernails, wondering how the in the world it had gotten there, as she said in a very deadpan voice, “Huzzah.”

“I thought you wanted to go back to sparring.”

“I did…I do,” Case told him. “I’m just really…I really just don’t want to talk about her alright?”

“Why not?”

“Because she’s a bitch…and I don’t have the patience for mind games,” Case told him, finally turning off the tap. She held up her hands, shaking some of the water off before showing them to the Asset, “Do I pass inspection Sergeant?”

“For now,” The Asset quirked a smile, “Now back to your cell before someone sees us.”

Case rolled her eyes and followed him back to her cell, walking inside when he opened the door.

“You’re not gonna…go off again, are you?” The Asset asked. “I mean…you’re gonna be okay in here, right?”

Case gave a sigh, and flexed her fingers, noting they were still a little sore. “I’m good…for now at least. Kinda tired…probably just gonna crash.”

“Okay…” The Asset nodded. “Goodnight Cassidy.”

The door shut and the locks clicked into place before Case responded with a whispered, “Goodnight James.”

 

* * *

 

James grinned to himself, knowing he used her name right that time.

He still wasn’t sure how to approach the orders that Silverfox had just given him. He could get the information, but he also knew the less he said the better off he’d be.

The last thing he wanted at this point was to be wiped again.

Now the only thing he wanted was some alone time with his thoughts, so he could try and piece together the fragmented memories he currently had. He was already headed back to his own cell, the cot inside sounding amazing right about now.

He should’ve known it wouldn’t last…

When he saw the first lab coat, he ignored him. They were both walking in the same direction, it could easily be explained as something involving one the other soldiers, he knew his commanders were working with them as well.

Plus, he knew that the female soldier was still in the infirmary for precautionary reasons to make sure she was back to fighting shape after taking the beating from the Siren.

When he saw the second lab coat falling into step on his other side, a bad feeling started to creep over him. He straightened his shoulders, trying to prepare himself for a fight if necessary.

But he failed to account for an attack from behind and stumbled when something slammed into his back.

He yelled out in pain as a round of electric shocks went through him, causing him to slump to the floor when it ended.

_“_ _U nas yest’ on,”_ one of the lab coats stated, grabbing hold of his flesh arm.

_“_ _Sil'verfoks khochet, chtoby on srazu prigotovilsya,”_ the other added.

_No…_ James thought, almost moaning out loud. _Not now…please not now…_

The electricity had weakened him, and the two practically dragged him into the chamber, with the third occasionally giving him small shocks to keep him stunned.

He was forced into the chair; they pried his mouth open and shoved the mouthguard inside.

There weren’t as many techs as there usually were, James noted – in fact, there was just the two that dragged him in there.

As they went to work, James watched as Silverfox pulled off her gloves.

The third one that kept shocking him…James noticed a glazed look wash over his face as Silverfox touched his arm. He disappeared quickly through a nearby door and shut it behind him.

She turned her cold gaze toward him, and James was suddenly struck by how familiar those eyes were.

As she made her way toward him, she called out, _“_ _Aktiv gotov?”_

He could hear the machine come to life around him, as the restraints clicked into place his pulse quickened and his breathing became erratic.

Silverfox studied him carefully, and the last thing he heard before the process started was, “Don’t make me regret this, _Soldat_.”     

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this ends Chapter Nine, again any constructive criticism is always appreciated.   
> I still only speak English and Bad English, so I used Google Translate for this one, but they stand as thus:  
> U nas yest’ on -- We have him  
> Sil'verfoks khochet, chtoby on srazu prigotovilsya -- Silverfox wants him prepped immediately  
> Aktiv gotov -- Is the Asset ready


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the lateness of the update – been having a bit of writer’s block on both stories. Had some interesting ideas for some AU’s to the overall story but struggling with the actual cannon for some reason.   
> Anyway, welcome to Chapter Ten. I still don’t own anything by Queen, especially “Hammer to Fall”.   
> Constructive criticism is always appreciated, and I hope you all enjoy the latest installment.

_“Remember who you are, Sergeant.”_

James woke up with a gasp, drenched in sweat.

He was lying flat on his stomach on the cot in his cell, breathing heavily as he tried to get his bearings.

Everything from the last twenty-four hours blurred together, and he was trying to make sense of it all…he remembered the electrical shocks, he remembered pain…

“ _Soldat!_ ”

James jumped into a sitting position when the door opened and Silverfox opened the door. She studied him for a moment, then asked, “Who is James Barnes?”

A memory flashed before his eyes…

_“You get your orders?” A short, skinny blond man asked him._

_“The One-Oh-Seventh,” He answered. “Sergeant James Barnes, shipping out for England first thing tomorrow.”_

“Well _Soldat?_ ”

James blinked, and Silverfox appeared before him again. He remembered Case told him that’s who he was, and he felt more confident today that she was right…but he shook his head, “I don’t know, ma’am.”

Silverfox gave a sigh, “Well that was a waste…”

That’s when it dawned on him – he still had his memories from yesterday, and the day before that. She hadn’t erased him when she put him in the chair.

“Well, nothing gained, but looks like nothing lost either,” Silverfox shrugged. “Get the Siren for sparring practice. You remember the orders I gave you?”

“Get the information without interrogation, report everything back to you,” James told her.

“That’s correct.”

James gave a nod and got to his feet. He walked past Silverfox as he left his cell, wondering why in the world she’d put him in the chair just to leave his memories behind…what had she done to him?

 

* * *

 

_“Oh, every night, every day, a little piece of you is fallin’ away! But lift your face, the Western Way baby, build your muscles as your body decays, yeah!”_

James reached the door to Case’s cell and paused, listening for a few moments.

_“Toe the line and play their game. Yeah, let the anesthetic cover it all! Till one day they call your name, you know it’s time for the hammer to fall!”_

He opened the door carefully, sliding in through a small gap and closed it behind him, not that the Siren was paying any attention to him.

She was currently strutting around on the opposite side of the cell, using a rod from the broken cot as a guitar based on the movements, occasionally doing a kick and spinning her right arm as she moved.

She pulled the rod up like a microphone now, _“Rich or poor or famous, for your truth is all the same! Oh no, oh no! Oh, lock your door but rain is pouring through your windowpane! Oh no, baby now your struggle’s all in vain! Yeah!”_

He folded his arms and leaned back against the door, something about this seemed familiar, though he was almost certain he’d never heard the song before in his life.

_“For we who grew up tall and proud, in the shadow of the Mushroom Cloud. Convinced our voices can’t be heard, we just wanna scream it louder and louder and louder, what the hell we fighting for? Oh, just surrender and it won’t hurt at all. Just got time to say your prayers, while you’re waiting for the hammer to fall.”_

Her back was still to him, he was surprised she hadn’t heard him come in.

_“Hey…it’s…it’s going to fall!”_ She kept leaning into the movements, like she was performing for an audience. _“Hammer! You know it! Yeah, hammer to fall!”_ She dropped into a kneel, still working the rod in her hand like a guitar. _“Ha! Ha! While you’re waiting for the hammer to fall!”_ She stood straighter and said, “Give it to me one more time!”

“Give _what_ to you one more time?” James finally spoke up.

The rod dropped to the floor, clanging loudly as she whirled around to face him, face going an interesting shade of vermillion. “Uh…how much of that…did you see?”

“Enough to wonder who you were trying to imitate,” James answered.

“Freddie Mercury…he was the lead singer of the band Queen. ‘Hammer to Fall’ is my favorite song by them.”

“Queen…” James repeated. He thought the name sounded familiar…but the more he tried to remember, nothing came to mind.

“It’s alright if you don’t know them,” Case admitted. “I mean…you probably…were in and out of whatever it was—”

“Cryo.”

Case blinked, then frowned, “Right…cryo…anyway you had other things going on when Queen was touring with Freddie Mercury…” She chewed on her lip, “Although…I’ve been meaning to ask you…”

James waited, but no question came. “What?”

“How much…um…” She was chewing her lip again, “When you were in my apartment…exactly how much did you hear…?”

“I’m not sure I follow…?”

“Never mind, don’t worry about it,” Case shrugged, the original blush had cleared but now a new one was turning her cheeks pink.

“You know…you’re kinda adorable when you blush.”

Case’s cheeks turned a darker shade of red, and she gave a shrug, “It’s been said…so…why are you here?”

“Silverfox cleared you for sparring practice again…thought you might want to…?”

“Why is she suddenly okay with you trying to break my face?” Case asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“Probably so long as I don’t _try_ to break your face she won’t mind.”

“Defeats the purpose of sparring if you’re not trying to break my face.”

“Why are you so eager to get beaten up?”

“I’m _not_ ,” Case frowned, “I just…if you pull punches now, it gives a false idea of what battle is really like. So how am I supposed to learn to defend myself against people who _don’t_ pull their punches if the people I’m training with do?”               

James mulled that over, “Fair point.”

 

* * *

 

“Okay…gib be a binute…”

James gave a sigh as he scrubbed his hand over his face, “I didn’t hit you _that_ hard…”

Case cast a glare his way, pulling her hands away from her face, “You just hit me with your _metal_ hand!”

He could see the imprint of his metal fingers, and he gave a chuckle, “Got you good too from what I can see.”

“Seriously Buck, you could’ve at least pulled the punch with the left…I know what I said but… _fuck!_ ” Case grumbled, feeling at her swelling nose. “Is it straight? Please tell me it’s at least straight…”

“Your nose is fine, perfect as always…plus or minus a little swelling,” James rolled his eyes. “Also… _Buck_?”

“Buck?”

“It’s what you just said…what’s a ‘buck’?”

Case frowned at him, “Uh…a male deer? Or is it an elk?”

“No, no…I think you just called me ‘Buck’.”

“Oh that…” Case sniffed next, “Simple mistake, means nothing.”

He watched as the redness gradually faded from her face, “For all your whining your face is clearing up pretty fast.”

“Still fuckin’ hurt,” Case rolled her eyes, “You once whined for a good ten minutes after getting sucker punched by Tommy Delvechio.”

“What?”

“Mostly because he was actually looking for my brother Ryder…because Ryder didn’t learn his lesson the first time about screwing around with his sister Monica in the third-floor closet of our school...he walked in and Ryder booked.”

“So, what did that have to do with me?”

“Well, for starters you were screwing around with their sister Suzanne at the time,” Case pointed out. “But you and I were hanging out at my family’s apartment when Ryder came running in like a bat outta hell telling us we never saw him. You were the one that opened the door and got clocked by Tommy’s fist.”

The Asset thought that sounded familiar…and suddenly a scene flashed before his eyes.

_A teenage boy stood before him, brown hair a mess with one strap of his suspenders dangling at his side while the other strap mercifully kept his pants upright, his long-sleeved shirt unbuttoned showing the white undershirt he wore underneath._

_His shoulders were tense as he tried to catch his breath. “You never saw me; I was never here…” He pointed a gloved finger toward the stairs, “And I am certainly_ not _going to run and hide under my bed like a coward…”_

_A loud pounding could be heard at the front door._

_“This conversation never happened,” and with that he disappeared up the stairs._

“Hey, you okay?”

James blinked, and looked down at Case, “Huh?”

“You okay? You disappeared for a minute there,” Case told him.

“I’m fine,” James said, shaking his head. “So…you can heal from any injury.”

Case cocked an eyebrow, “Uh yeah…welcome to the party, James.”

“Sorry I just…” James frowned, “I just—”

“You needed a topic change, I get it,” Case shrugged it off. “Come on, let’s get back to work.”

James took the out and moved his feet back into position. He feinted with his right and threw a punch with his left arm to resume their sparring match.

Case ducked under the metal fist, and blocked a second swing with the flesh arm, “Since you do want to breach the topic again, though, yes, I can heal from _any_ injury…I’ve been able to do that since I was a kid. Damn near indestructible already I’d say.”

James simply hummed as they continued their sparring match.

“Took a bullet to the chest from a sniper during World War Two,” Case added, “I think it was meant for Steve…unfortunately I stepped in front of him and took it instead…splattered blood all over his uniform…but I healed quickly, not a trace of the injury to this day.”

“Impressive.”

Case gave a weak chuckle, “Gonna be honest that’s not what you said the first time.”

“Oh?” He tried to kick her legs out from beneath her.

She jumped and dodged to the side, “Yeah…you weren’t quite sure what to do…how to react. See, you and Steve knew about my ability, had for years…but it had never been put to the test like that before.”

“I see.”

“Yeah…” Case mumbled under her breath when the door opened.

 

* * *

 

On the other side of the bars, her mother suddenly appeared. She didn’t say a word, just stood with her arms folded across her chest, brown hair tied back in a tight bun, and blue eyes carefully watching the two sparring on the other side of the bars.

_We’ve been doing this for ten minutes and you must come in now?_ Case wondered, then gave a grunt as the Asset tackled her to the floor, the wind getting knocked out of her as she landed on her front.

Before she could react, she let out a choked gasp as the Asset wrapped his metal arm around her neck in a headlock. She yanked at the metal limb that had tightened around her neck. Spots were starting to swim before her eyes, and she couldn’t breathe.

He pulled them both up into a sitting position, wrapping his legs around her as he kept his left arm wrapped around her throat. It wasn’t going anywhere, if anything he was tightening his grip on her.

“Tap out, Cassidy!” Her mother yelled from behind the metal bars.

“Fuck off!” Case rasped from around the chokehold.

“Let go, _Soldat_!”

“Don’t listen to her,” Case hissed.

“Then what are you going to do?” The Soldier grunted. “How are you going to get free? You lost this round, Siren.”

_I will not lose!_ Case’s mind screamed. Suddenly, it dawned on her…her Hail Mary, if it even worked still…seventy years was a long time. She grabbed hold of his thighs and squeezed.

Case could only define the sound that came from behind her as a yelp, and the metal arm loosened its hold enough so she could scramble away.  

Case shot across the room, collapsing in the middle of the floor, taking her first full breath in minutes.

“What the hell as _that_?” Her mother shouted. “What did you do to the Asset?”

Case gave a raspy chuckle, “I…knew that…would come in handy…someday…”

Her mother marched over to her and yanked Case to her feet, “You knew _what_ would?”

Case gave a smirk, “I’m sorry, that’s classified.”

Silverfox’s right eye twitched once, before she took a deep breath to calm herself down. She then touched Case’s chin and gently tilted upward to see her neck, “The Asset got you good…you’re going to have a nice bruise.”

“It’ll be gone by morning just like last time,” Case shrugged out of Silverfox’s grip and rubbed at her throat. She looked back at the Soldier, who was eyeing her wearily. _“I’m sorry,”_ she mouthed at him, at an angle where she knew Kayla couldn’t see.

He cocked his head at that, but otherwise said nothing.

“Get to the showers,” Kayla gave a sigh.

“Whatever,” Case rolled her eyes. She cast one last glance at the soldier, before starting her track toward the bars. Partially out of boredom, also to annoy her mother, she winced against the ache in her neck as she began to belt out, _“Oh every night, and every day. A little piece of you is falling away. But lift your face, the Western way, baby. Build your muscles as your body decays.”_

As she reached the doorway, Case looked back and noticed neither had moved, and both were watching her. With a shrug, she continued to belt out, _“Toe their line and play their game…yeah let the anesthetic cover it all. ‘Till one day they call your name…you know it’s time for the hammer to fall.”_

 

* * *

 

“So…did you learn anything interesting?” Kayla asked.

She’d led the Asset to her office, asking about what he’d been able to get out of Case. She seemed more talkative toward him, and Kayla thought that maybe she’d get a clearer picture on things if she indulged at least _one_ of Case’s whims.

The Asset shook his head, “Not enough time to learn much…she was shot by a sniper during World War Two…thinks she’s indestructible.”

“Which is something _you_ called her when she got here.”

The Asset frowned, “What?”

“Yes, you called her the ‘Indestructible’ Siren.”

The Asset chewed on his lip thoughtfully, “She called herself that.”

Kayla huffed, “And _when_ did she do that, pray tell?”

More silence from the Asset, his head drooping so he was looking down at his boots, no longer meeting her gaze. 

“That’s what I thought…see if you can get—”

“Azzano,” The Asset suddenly said, looking back up at her.

“Azzano?” Kayla repeated. She knew the name sounded familiar, and it took her a few moments before she remembered, “Where that horrid factory was?”

“Yes.”

“What about it?”

“It’s the answer to your question,” The Asset frowned, “‘When did she call herself that?’ It was during World War Two…after the rescue mission from Azzano. She said…” He paused for a moment, “She…she believed she was already like a superhero already. She’s indestructible, has bone claws, and great sense of smell and hearing.”

Kayla blinked at him, “Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?”

The Asset just blinked at her.

Kayla pinched at the bridge of her nose, “Alright…we’ll try again tomorrow. Dismissed _Soldat_.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the lateness of the update – welcome to Chapter Eleven. This takes place just after the scene in “Misadventures” chapter eight – “I Think We’re Alone Now”. I think it stands alone, but you may want to read that chapter first before reading this one, at least for some context.   
> As per the usual, I do not own “Hammer to Fall” by Queen.   
> We’re heading into the final chapters of this story; any constructive criticism is always appreciated.  
> Enjoy 😊

_I shouldn’t have kissed her._

James paced the length of his cell, repeating the phrase over and over as thoughts and memories raced through his head.

He hadn’t gotten much sleep that night after the kiss he’d shared with Case. It wasn’t a bad kiss – in fact it had felt like second nature and opened the floodgates for more memories of a physical relationship with her – ducking into a closet here and there for a secret kiss and some time alone together, Case huddling under the covers of his bedroll and showing how singing wasn’t the _only_ thing that mouth of hers could do well…there was also an interesting moment with the two of them in a trunk, where _both_ received a happy ending.

_I shouldn’t have kissed her._

She was always so warm and soft – complete contradiction to the face she showed to the world. Oh sure, Case could be as feminine as they came, dresses and makeup and sweet as can be…when she wanted to be that is.

But when she joined the Howling Commandos, Case Howlett always maintained that she was just as tough as any of the other guys, that she belonged on the battlefield with the rest of the men. She’d cut her hair short, went without makeup, and crawled around in the mud on missions.

Behind closed doors, however, James had known the truth. That Case was just as scared as the rest of them, even if she didn’t want to admit it. Scared that she wasn’t good enough, scared that someone would find out she was a mutant, scared she would wake up alone…the list went on. There were nights she couldn’t sleep, and others where she’d stay awake, simply because she was too afraid to close her eyes.

That was probably why she wanted to spar all the time – either burn off the energy until she was just so exhausted, she passed out, or wanted to keep her blood pumping to keep herself awake.

He sat back down on the cot and shoved his fingers in his hair.

He couldn’t tell Silverfox any of that – despite his orders, he couldn’t betray Case like that. This was something between the two of them, _that_ he knew for sure.

He’d talk to her about it later – _his_ door wasn’t locked; he would wait until later that night and sneak in to see her.

With a sigh he leaned back against the wall, resting his head against the cold brick. He shouldn’t have kissed her…but he’d wanted to. He’d wanted to and he did it…and enjoyed every moment of it, at least until she shoved him off.

_I want more._

 

* * *

 

“December sixteenth, nineteen-ninety-one.”

Silverfox had led her into the same interrogation room she’d led her into the day before. A shiny new table had already replaced the one Case had slashed to pieces. She was currently pulling a cart into view where Case sat, on it was a screen and a VCR.

Case cocked an eyebrow as she folded her arms and rested them on the table, “You say that like it’s supposed to mean something to me. I was on ice during that time.”

“Just like the list of names and faces I gave you yesterday,” Silverfox explained. She pressed a few buttons and the date lit up the screen. “You were friends with Howard and Maria Stark, weren’t you?”

Case finally looked up at her, “Howard Stark yes…I never was able to meet his wife.”

“That’s the date they died.”

“And…?” Case asked. _Why the hell would Hydra be interested in that?_ She knew Howard had helped found SHIELD but still… “Tony said they died in a car accident.”

“Why don’t you be the judge of that?”

Case frowned but said nothing as Silverfox pressed a button on the VCR.

An empty roadway filled the screen next. A few seconds later, a car crashed into the wall at full speed – the hood bent up at an angle as it smashed, smoke poured out from underneath.

As the motorcycle rounded the trunk, Case caught the glint from the metal arm. She swallowed roughly and felt her breathing pick up as she rasped, “Turn it off.”

She watched Howard Stark crawl out of the driver’s seat, quietly repeating the phrase, _“Save my wife…”_

“I said turn it off!” Case snapped, moving to get to her feet.

Silverfox was behind her, and shoved her shoulders so Case plopped back down, “Sit.”

The Winter Soldier grabbed Howard by his hair and pulled him up, Case could see blood dripping down his face.

_“Sergeant Barnes?”_ Howard asked, still sounding like he was in shock.

The Soldier said nothing, simply raised his metal fist and threw it into Howard’s face twice. Maria was yelling her husband’s name as the Soldier dropped Howard, letting him fall to the ground.

Case watched helplessly as the Soldier dragged Howard back to the car, buckled him in and placed his head against the steering wheel. She scrunched her eyes shut as she watched as he made his way around the car and grabbed hold of Maria’s throat.

“And I think that’s enough,” Silverfox said as she walked around the table to turn off the video. When Case met her gaze again, she asked, “Any questions?”

Tears were filling Case’s eyes as they narrowed in anger, “You…you _murdered_ them?”

“Stark had something we needed,” Silverfox gave a shrug. “As you just saw, the Asset took care of everything.”

“Why?” Case demanded, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Why the hell did you do that? Hell, why kill Maria? Howard makes sense, but Maria was innocent!”

“Collateral damage,” Silverfox shrugged. “Plus…we couldn’t exactly have her go blabbing about how some metal-armed assassin just killed her husband now, could we?”

“Or you could’ve just let them both live!”

“Howard Stark needed to die; it was all part of the grand scheme of things.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It’s all part of Hydra’s grand plan,” Silverfox explained. “Something that you are now a part of and will someday fall in line with.”

“Never gonna happen, bitch,” Case snapped.

“When are you going to get it through your head? The man you knew is _gone_ ,” Silverfox snarled, standing before Case and leaning toward her, arms bracing herself on the table. “He’s not coming back. He was able to look a former friend in the eye and kill him without hesitation. And you’re _still_ thinking that Hydra can’t do the same to you?”

Case glared up at her mother, before standing. She reared back and threw her head forward, gaining a feeling of satisfaction as her head connected with her mother’s nose, causing a yelp of pain. She calmly walked around the table, ejecting her claws, before slicing into the metal door that kept her locked in. She kicked it away, not even sparing a glance at her mother as she said, “You can’t break what’s already been broken.”

 

* * *

 

_“SOLDAT!”_

James opened his eyes as he sat back against the wall, remaining seated on his cot as Silverfox came into his cell.

“Yes ma’am?”

“Have you seen the Siren?”

James blinked for a moment, “No…not today. Did we have a training session?”

“She escaped!” Silverfox hissed and began pacing as she threaded her fingers through her hair. “I don’t want to put the facility on lockdown, I don’t want anyone else to know she’s missing. God if she gets out…where’s she going to go? It’s below freezing out there and—”

“She’s not going to leave the facility.”

“Well I didn’t expect her to finally start using her claws either,” Silverfox scowled at him.

James finally noticed the blood ringing the woman’s swollen nose, and the dark circles under her eyes, “Rough meeting with the Siren?”

“That’s what you take from this?”

“Look, Case isn’t going to escape the facility…she’s using her claws, that means she’s panicking. What you need to look for is a tiny space…or…” James scratched at his head, trying to remember. He slowly got to his feet, “She likes closed spaces when she’s scared…”

“I already checked her cell, it’s empty.”

“Smaller than that.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Anytime she needs to show any strong emotions, fear, anger, sadness…she hides. She doesn’t like showing that she’s losing control, that she doesn’t belong somewhere. If everything is hitting her all at once, she needs a dark, closed space to…let it all go, I guess? Let loose everything so she can regroup.”

Silverfox frowned, “You know this _how_?”

“She’s fast, wouldn’t take her long to cross the facility, even if she was avoiding guards,” James murmured, “Farthest I can think of from the interrogation rooms are some storage closets—”

“Cassidy wouldn’t hide in a storage closet,” Silverfox told him.

“Shows how little you actually know her,” James stated, “Because that’s _exactly_ something she would do.”

Silverfox cocked an eyebrow at him, “Prove it.”

“Alright, follow me.”

 

* * *

 

The facility was silent.

Footsteps echoed as the two walked toward the storage closets the Asset was sure she was hiding in – any others they passed Silverfox tried to check he would shake his head and roll his eyes.

Kayla kept remembering the last time she’d seen the twins together, when she’d told them to hide in the closet of their home in the Rockies. They’d trusted her completely when she’d told them she would see them soon – it had broken her heart to betray that promise.

She’d missed them terribly, but she thought she was doing the right thing… _anything_ to keep them out of Hydra’s hands.

She should’ve known it wouldn’t last – when she saw Ryder in the factory at Azzano, it had taken her breath away. Her son…her _grown up_ son, in an army uniform, working day and night. She’d wanted to go to him, to take him out of that mess – but she couldn’t. What would Zola had done if he’d known Kayla had a child, let alone two? Who knows what he would’ve done to poor Ryder had he gotten his mitts on him?

And now look what they wanted to do to her Cassidy…Kayla had left them behind to try and protect them, but apparently it hadn’t done any good. Hydra still got them in the end anyway…

She gave a grunt as she walked into a solid mass of muscle – the Asset had stopped dead in his tracks. “What the hell—?”

“Shh!” The Asset hissed.

Kayla was about to open her mouth, when she heard it.

_“You d-don’t waste no time at all…don’t hear the bell but you answer the c-call,”_ the voice hesitated, then continued, _“Comes to you as too us all…then it’s time for the hammer to fall.”_

“God, I hate Queen…” Kayla grumbled under her breath as the Asset moved toward the door the sound was coming from.

_“Every night…and every day. A little piece of you is fallin’ away,”_ Cassidy continued as the Asset opened the door, _“Lift your face, the western way baby…build your muscle as your body decays…”_

He slowly approached her, and her eyes were on him, wet and bloodshot as she gave a sob and buried her face in her knees.

Silverfox watched as he reached her, dropping to his knees beside her and enveloping her in his arms.

_“C’est bon, vous êtes en sécurité maintenant,”_ he was murmuring to her.

_“Non, nous ne sommes pas,”_ Cassidy whimpered, burying her face in his neck. She started crying even harder, and the Asset flinched at the sound.

He adjusted so he was sitting against the wall as he tangled his right hand in her hair, and pressed a kiss to the waves, _“Tout va bien bébé, je t'ai eu. Tu es en sécurité avec moi.”_

Case looked up at him in confusion, and blurted out, “Bucky?”

The Asset just gave her a small smile and removed his hand from her hair, taking her hand in his and rubbing his flesh thumb over her knuckles, “The indestructible Siren…lure ‘em in the with the voice…then get ‘em with the claws.”

Fresh tears filled Case’s eyes as she gave another sob, face going back to his neck as she wrapped her arms around him, crying, _“Je suis tellement désolé bébé… pardonne-moi s'il te plaît, je suis désolé!”_

_“Vous n'avez rien fait de mal,”_ The Asset whispered into her hair, hugging her close. _“Rien.”_

It finally registered to Kayla what she was seeing…and she backed away slowly before she turned around and ran all the way back to her office.

She slammed the door behind her, gasping for breath as she slid to the floor, leaning back against the metal door trying to get her bearings.

Bucky…the mysterious Bucky that had Cassidy in knots…was the Asset.

_“He was my_ _friend._ _He was_ _family_ _…he meant a hell of a lot more to me than you_ _ever_ _will!”_

Cassidy’s words now made more sense…Kayla could kick herself for not seeing it earlier.

She couldn’t stay here…even when they erased the Asset’s memories again, she’d be able to remind him of who he was. Bucky was her reason to fight all this…and she would give the Asset a reason to fight back.

Kayla called Pierce into her office once she’d regained her composure, and when he waltzed in thirty minutes later, she was already packing boxes.  

“The Siren goes back.”

Pierce blinked at her, “I’m sorry? She goes _back_?”

Kayla nodded, “It’s for the best…she’s not fit for duty…or any of this really. She goes back first thing in the morning.”

“And what do you propose we do with the rest of the assets?” Pierce demanded. “Do you really think she’s going to keep her mouth shut?”

“We have to abandon ship,” Kayla shrugged. She’d finished packing the items from a bookcase and walked over to begin pulling items from her desk drawers, “We’ve done it before. Move everything to another facility, don’t leave a trace. She only knows of this one, so when she is able to get a search party we’ll already be gone.”

“And you think that’s gonna fix everything?”

“You may want to take a sabbatical from SHIELD, in case you two cross paths,” Kayla added.

Pierce blinked at her, “You’re serious about all this, aren’t you?”

“Get packing, Pierce…dismissed.”

“This isn’t over,” Pierce warned and about faced, slamming the door behind him.

 

* * *

 

_Who the hell does she think she is?_ Pierce thought as he marched through the facility. _Ordering an evacuation and abandonment of the facility…over what? Some stupid mutant? She’s right, this is going to end first thing in the morning…_

He walked into another cell, seeing the blond soldier sitting with his head in his hands, “Look at me.”

The soldier’s head rose, with a look of boredom on his face. His dark blond hair was neatly combed as always, and he sat eerily still for one of the most violent soldiers in the facility.

“I thought we’d have more time before this,” Pierce told him. “But you’re going to fight the Siren, first thing in the morning.”

The look of boredom was replaced by a smile.

“I’ve picked you…because you’re the only one that was able to take down the Winter Soldier,” Pierce explained. “Silverfox wants to send the Siren home alive. I want the mutant silenced.” He folded his arms as he said, “She doesn’t leave this facility _breathing_ , do you understand?”

The smile grew even more sinister as the soldier stated, “Yes sir.”

“Good,” Pierce gave a nod before leaving the room.

He’d intended to have the Siren fight _all_ the specialty soldiers…but if Silverfox wanted to play the game this way, he’d just have to adapt.

The soldier he’d given the order to had brought the Asset to its knees and kicked him across the room – he’d be perfect to take out the Siren.

Pierce headed for his quarters; confident the situation was now resolved. He’d take the fallout from Silverfox once the Siren was in a pine box…but all he’d have to is enjoy the show until that time came.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, translations thanks to Google Translate as such:  
> Silverfox watched as he reached her, dropping to his knees beside her and enveloping her in his arms.   
> “It’s alright, you’re safe now,” he was murmuring to her.   
> “No, we’re not,” Cassidy whimpered, burying her face in his neck. She started crying even harder, and the Asset flinched at the sound.   
> He adjusted so he was sitting against the wall as he tangled his right hand in her hair, and pressed a kiss to the waves, “It’s alright baby, I’ve got you. You’re safe with me.”  
> Case looked up at him in confusion, and blurted out, “Bucky?”  
> The Asset just gave her a small smile and removed his hand from her hair, taking her hand in his and rubbing his flesh thumb over her knuckles, “The indestructible Siren…lure ‘em in the with the voice…then get ‘em with the claws.”   
> Fresh tears filled Case’s eyes as she gave another sob, face going back to his neck as she wrapped her arms around him, crying, “I’m so sorry baby…please forgive me, I’m sorry!”  
> “You haven’t done anything wrong,” The Asset whispered into her hair, hugging her close. “Nothing.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for the lateness of the update – welcome to Chapter Twelve. Time just got away from me with this chapter, I do hope it’s worth the wait.   
> As per usual, constructive criticism is always appreciated, and I hope you all enjoy the newest update.

_“SOLDAT!”_

_Here we go again;_ Bucky gave a groan as he pinched at his eyes. He didn’t sleep much the night before – too many faces, too many memories hitting him at once.

Every time he got to sleep, he heard another gunshot and woke up in a cold sweat.

The door opened with a loud screech as Silverfox stormed his cell. “Where the hell is she?”

Bucky sat up slowly, barely able to conceal a yawn, “Where the hell is who?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, especially after the way the two of you got all cozy in the broom closet last night,” Silverfox scowled at him. “Where is Cassidy?”

“Don’t worry Missus Howlett,” Bucky said as he stretched, “I walked your little girl to her door and ended the night early with a kiss on the cheek.”

Silverfox’s eye twitched, and she looked ready to have a stroke.

“Joke…it was a _joke_ ,” Bucky pinched at his eyes again, trying to ward off a headache. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with Silverfox’s demanding nature this early in the morning after a pitiful night’s sleep. He looked back up at her, “ _Cassidy_ should be in her cell, right where I left her.”

“Don’t you think that’s the first place I checked?” The woman snapped. “She’s gone!”

“Did she cut through the door?”

“Certainly not.”

“Then she’s not _gone_.”

Silverfox glared at him, “God I forgot how much of a smartass you were…that needs to stop.”

_She thinks I’m being a smartass?_ Bucky wondered as he got to his feet. He spread his arms wide, “As you can see, Case is _not_ here.”

“And _you_ were the last person I saw her with,” Silverfox told him.

“So, the question becomes, who would have a reason to take her out of her cell? Who did you talk to last night?”

“Just Cassidy and…” Silverfox trailed off. “Pierce…he’s been itching to put Cassidy in the Chair—”

“Shit…come on!” Bucky hissed, racing out the door with Silverfox on his heels.

As they ran, Silverfox asked him, “Why do you call her ‘Case’?”

“What’s it to you?” Bucky asked.

“I hate that name,” Silverfox rolled her eyes, “I’ve never liked it. Her name is _Cassidy_.”

“But she hates the name _Cassidy,_ ” Bucky pointed out. “Very few people can get away with calling her that.”

“And you’re one of those people I presume?”

Bucky said nothing as he slowed to a stop and rounded the corner, entering the familiar chamber with the chair.

The metallic beast of a thing sat dormant, waiting for its next victim.

“I don’t understand,” Silverfox frowned as she took in the sight of the empty contraption, “He’s been chomping at the bit to get her into that thing…and each procedure takes _time_ …mine was rushed but it still took more time than he would’ve had—”

“What did you last say to him?”

“Just that I wanted her gone,” Silverfox explained, “I planned on sending her back.”

“Just like that?” Even Bucky was surprised. He turned toward her and folded his arms, “No safeguards in place?”

“Just the usual,” Silverfox shrugged.

“And Case’s memories?”

“Hadn’t planned on touching those.”

“So, he’d want a way to keep her quiet.”

“But she’s not here…and he wouldn’t have transported her off site, he had no intention,” Silverfox said.

“Right…” Bucky nodded. When the realization hit him, he took off running, ignoring the woman’s calls for him to wait for her.

 

* * *

 

_Shit, shit, shit!_ Case’s mind screamed as she went flying across the room. She hit the metal bars running along the training area, making a loud clanging noise before she hit the ground.

She coughed, wincing at the metallic taste that had filled her mouth, and as she slowly rose to all fours she watched as blood dripped out of her mouth as she tried to catch her breath.

Case reached up and grabbed one of the bars, using it to haul herself to her feet. She was breathing through her mouth – her nose was swollen, Case couldn’t breathe through it if she tried, and she could feel one of her eyes was closing of its own accord.

_This one is going to be tougher than I thought,_ she thought to herself as she leaned against the metal bars.

Suddenly the soldier was behind her and threw a punch into her back that smashed her against the bars.

Blood splattered into the area between the bars from Case’s mouth – she wasn’t sure if she’d just spit it out with the force or if it was being vomited up…either way, Case knew she was in trouble.

This wasn’t a test…

Before she could react, he had her by the hair and he’d slammed her repeatedly into the bars before he threw her across the room again.

This time she bounced off the bullet proof glass of the small office before she hit the ground.

Everything hurt…she was sure if she didn’t have the adamantium every bone would be broken. As it stood…she was in so much pain she was sure every soft bit she had had been jammed into the adamantium bones, causing even more damage.

But even lying there…she was sure some of the pain was her body trying to heal the smallest injuries first, working its way up to the bigger ones.

She gave a weak cough, cringing as she felt more blood start to dribble out of her mouth. With a grunt she slowly eased herself to all fours again, head to the ground as she tried to breathe.

“Finish it!” She could hear Pierce call out.

The Soldier grabbed her roughly by the arm and yanked her to her feet.

She blinked her one good eye as she looked up at him and said, “When are you going to realize…you can’t kill me?” She winced, even _that_ had hurt, along with the grip he had on her bicep. “It’s not…possible.”

The Soldier cocked his head at her, “Perhaps…” he lowered her to the ground, making sure she was on her feet.

Case felt like she was a little unsteady, tilting from one side to the other as she tried to remain upright.

Her opponent circled her, “Hydra’s motto is ‘cut off one head, two more shall take its place’…let’s see what happens when you lose yours.”  

Case felt something hit her in the back – right at the point where her neck met her shoulders. Suddenly…everything was gone. She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t move her arms…outside of a slight pressure between her shoulder blades, she couldn’t feel anything anymore.

She felt something twist and heard some sickening squelching sounds…then whatever she was hit with was yanked away.

The soldier who’d stabbed her grabbed her shoulder – at least she assumed that’s what he did, she could barely move her head as it was. “Now that’s been taken care of…let’s see what happens now,” he reached around and stabbed Case in the gut, dragging the knife across her abdomen in a deep slice.

He bent her forward, and Case watched as her own blood dripped onto the floor…and didn’t stop.

Her eyes widened as best as they could around the swelling, and she gave a strangled gasping noise, trying to get even a little bit of air into her lungs.

He stabbed her again, this time jabbing the knife deep into her side and more blood began flowing. “Cutting your throat did nothing,” he shoved her to the ground, and Case dropped like a rock, unable to even catch herself. “Stabbing you…even the adamantium fusion didn’t kill you…” he gave a powerful kick that sent her flying, and Case again bounced off the bullet proof glass and hit the floor, pain exploding in her head as her vision went foggy. “Who knew that the way to defeat the Siren was to sever her spinal cord…can’t heal when all connection to the brain is lost.”

Everything seemed like it was underwater. Case’s vision went in and out, she blearily saw the sinister face of the Hydra super soldier has he approached. He pulled her to her feet and threw his fist into her face, and Case’s head snapped back as she felt blood stream out of her nose and spots filled her vision.

Her body folded in on itself as she received hit after hit, she could see more of her own blood spill on the floor. Part of her was thankful she couldn’t feel any of the hits – she had already been in a lot of pain before, she could only imagine how much worse she’d feel now.

Case then was vaguely aware she was flying again, and she crash-landed at the boots of another soldier. His face from that angle appeared blurry, but his face got clearer as he knelt beside her.

He wiped at the side of her mouth, clearing away something that had dribbled out of her lips, and Case saw his silver left thumb was stained red. His face went from a calm mask to downright murderous in a matter of seconds.

Her head lolled to the side, and she could see the arrogance fade from the super soldier’s face as he took a step back once he’d locked eyes with the Asset, who slowly got to his feet.

Her lips quirked in a tiny smile, as she finally descended into the darkness.

 

* * *

 

_“Internal bleeding, many of her vital organs are ruptured…”_

_“Fix it.”_

_“We can’t, the damage is too extensive.”_

_“Fix it.”_

_“Her spinal cord is completely severed…I don’t even understand how he got the blade through, but it’s a clean cut!”_

_“I said fix it!”_

_“You don’t give the orders around here, Soldier!”_

_“If she dies, I will nail both of you to the wall.”_

 

* * *

 

_“They told me you are known as the Siren. Friend of Captain America, sister of the…Hypnotist? Who comes up with these names, anyway? When I was…that first night, I didn’t know who ‘Bucky’ was…now I do. There’s some pieces still missing, but I remember who I was, and I know you were right about me.”_

 

* * *

 

_“She needs to heal.”_

_“She’s not going to heal, Soldat, why don’t you understand that?”_

_“Because she’s different!”_

_“But she’s not indestructible! The surgeons did everything they could, but they said it wasn’t likely that she’s going to regain consciousness.”_

_“She will.”_

_“She won’t.”_

_“GET OUT!”_

_“Soldat—”_

_“Either leave by your own accord, or I will hurl you out.”_

 

* * *

 

_“Your name is Case. I don’t know why She calls you ‘Cassidy’…she’s the only person I know of that insists on it. I now remember the sniper story…and I didn’t panic because I didn’t know how to act. I panicked because for one moment I thought I was going to lose you, and that thought scared the hell outta me. You told me later that you just need to heal, that you could heal from anything. And that’s what I need you to do now…you need to heal…I know you can. They won’t keep you for very long…and they need to fix you…so you can heal again.”_

 

* * *

 

_“Commander…look at this.”_

_“What am I looking at?”_

_“These are scans we took when the injury first occurred. These are ones that we just took…do you see a difference?”_

_“Not particularly…get to the point.”_

_“If I didn’t know better…I’d say her spinal cord was healing…”_

 

* * *

 

_“The day she said you were gone…I didn’t believe her. The thought of any one of you being gone forever was a hard pill to swallow, but all three of you at once? And you and Ryder were practically immortals…how the hell could you die? And Steve…god we almost lost him so many times growing up…I just got you back, Cassidy, I can’t lose you again.”_

 

* * *

 

_“Commander…her spine is healing itself.”_

_“You already said that.”_

_“No, I mean, healing as if there was no damage at all!”_

_“So, she may actually regain consciousness?”_

_“I can’t say for certain…it’s very possible if the injuries heal.”_

 

* * *

 

_“Please, Case, wake up. I need you to wake up…you can’t leave me now, not after all this. You’re strong, you’re a fighter…you just need to wake up. Please…come back to me.”_

 

* * *

 

Things came back in stages.

Everything _hurt_ …her muscles, her bones…even her hair hurt. Something was in her mouth, going down her throat, she could hear beeping and a hissing noise…

Her eyes shot open. She tried to reach for the tube down her throat – her arms were stretched out at her sides, and she looked over. Curling her fingers took enormous effort on her part, and she started to panic.

“Stop! You’ll hurt yourself more if you do that!”

_And the nightmare continues…_ Case scrunched her eyes shut in frustration.

“I’ll remove the tube and explain everything…but you’ll need to do the same for me,” Silverfox told her. “What I saw…I need answers.”

Case held still, following her mother’s directions as she removed the breathing tube. Her voice was raspy as she asked, “What happened to me?”

“He stabbed you in the spine.”

Case looked over at James, “What?”

“Did I stutter?”

“How did he stab me in the spine? It’s fused with adamantium! Unless the knife was made of that shit it shouldn’t have been able to penetrate.”

“It doesn’t need to be made of adamantium to slip between the disks of your spine to sever the cord.”

“Oh…”

“Yes, _oh_ ,” James rolled his eyes, and said matter-of-factly, “He stabbed you in the spine, in the gut, and in your side… _and_ he beat you repeatedly with his fists.”

“You could’ve died,” Silverfox said. “ _Should_ have died…if you didn’t heal like your father you would have.”

“How did I get outta there?” Case asked. She curled her fingers into fists, breathing easier when she realized function was slowly returning.

“From what I understand the Asset hurled the one that stabbed you into the wall, grabbed you and carried you out of there, repeating the words ‘she was wrong’,” Silverfox explained.

Case frowned and whipped her head toward James, who had his arms folded as he leaned against the wall. He looked at the ground, avoiding her gaze. Case forced herself into a sitting position, “How much do you remember?”

“Cassidy—” Silverfox began.

“Shut up!” Case snapped at her. She slid her legs over the side of the bed, resting her feet on the ground, looking at the man as she said, “Answer me.”

“I don’t—”

“That’s bullshit, and you know it!” Case snapped at him.

He finally looked at her, and Case could see the recognition in his eyes. He seemed to be choosing his words carefully as he said, “ _‘Don’t worry about me, Buck. They haven’t invented a bullet that can kill me yet.’_ ”

Case just stared up at him, opening her mouth to speak but closing it again as tears filled her eyes.

“You said that?” Silverfox shrieked, making both nearly jump out of their skin. “Cassidy Melissa Howlett _what the hell were you thinking?_ ”

“That nothing _could_ kill me,” Case shrugged.

“Nothing could kill you?” James roared, “Nothing could kill you? Case, those were serum-infused super soldiers trained by Hydra! Of course, they could kill you! I thought Steve was bad, his punk ass parachuted behind enemy lines to rescue…why the hell are you smirking like that?”

“Nostalgia,” Case said simply.

“God my head hurts…” James groaned, rubbing at his forehead. “I’ve got faces and names…and you…god what were you thinking?” As Case opened her mouth, he held up a finger, “I know, you don’t need to repeat it.”

“You two know each other,” Silverfox stated bluntly. “From before…you were…friends?”

“How do you two know each other?” James asked.

“That’s neither here nor there,” Case shrugged it off, then asked, “How much do you remember?”

“A lot more than when you were brought here, I can tell you that,” James told her. “God…I…how can you even stand the sight of me?”

Case blinked at him, “I don’t understand…”

“I’m the one that brought you here,” James said. “After all I’ve done—”

“How _can_ you even look at him the same?” Silverfox asked.

Case cast a glare her way, “You can leave at any time!”

Silverfox’s eyebrows rose, “Guess you’re feeling better.”

“Other than the nice throbbing my face is doing, yes I am feeling better,” Case rolled her eyes. She was still having trouble seeing out of her left eye, and with a sigh she looked back at James, “How can you stand the sight of _me?_ I mean…I can only imagine what I look like right about now…”

“Bruises heal,” James pointed out. “What I’ve done…”

Case turned her head back toward her mother, “Leave _now._ ”

Silverfox bristled at the dismissal, “I have some things to take care of anyway…”

Case glared at her as she walked out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her. She let her gaze soften, “Bucky…”

“Case…I…” James sighed, then his eyes went back down to his boots.

“Come here…?” Case asked softly and opened her arms.

He looked back up at her and a small smile quirked his mouth as he walked toward her and wrapped his arms around her, giving her a small squeeze. Then he jerked back, “Wait, did I hurt—”

“Anything from the neck down is still mostly numb,” Case told him, “Unless you punch me, I’m pretty sure you’re fine.”

James gave a nod and reached up, gently cupping her face in his hands, “God…he really…shit…”

“Thanks…” Case frowned at him.

“I’m sorry it’s just…” James sighed.

Case cupped her own hands over his cheeks, “None of this is your fault, Buck.”

“Isn’t it though?” James asked. “I mean, look at what I’ve done…what I just did to you—”

“Got yourself brainwashed and followed orders to grab me?” Case asked him. “Bucky… _none_ of this is your fault. I don’t blame you…you didn’t even know who I was when you took me.”

“But—”

“I’m serious,” Case told him. “I don’t blame you.”

James gave a nod and rested his forehead against hers for a few moments. After a few minutes of silence, he said, “We need to get you outta here.”

“As long as you come with me,” Case told him.

James pressed a kiss to the crown of her head, “I’m sure we can figure something out…I don’t plan on letting you outta my sight ever again.”

Case gave a small smile, “I can work with that.”

James stepped back a bit, so he could look her in the eye, and cocked an eyebrow as he asked, “But I do want to know…who _is_ this unattainable blond actor that looks good in a towel?”

Case’s eyebrows rose, and underneath the bruises she flushed vermilion as she said, “You will never know.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I’m finally back on the update schedule…let’s see how long this will last. I hope you enjoy this latest installment as the story winds down to a close.  
> And as always, constructive criticism is always appreciated.

* * *

Kayla watched the two through the small window in the door. She couldn’t hear them – but the way they looked at each other told her enough.

Logan used to look at her that way…adoration…affection… _love_.

These two weren’t merely _friends_ …they couldn’t have been.

This…this made things extremely complicated. She hadn’t planned on touching Cassidy’s memories; she’d just intended to wipe the memories of all the Assets – including Barnes – and move them off site.

She’d hoped that when Cassidy and her friends saw that the site had been abandoned, they’d leave well enough alone.

It _had_ answered the lingering question she’d always had about the situation though. She’d always assumed that nobody had cared enough about Barnes to go looking, hence why his men had just assumed he was dead and moved on.

She’d had no idea that he _did_ have people that would move heaven and hell to find him, they’d simply gone into the ice before they’d had the chance to look.

Cassidy and Barnes could have their moment, she’d give them that. Kayla had bigger fish to fry…and was marching her way toward the fish’s office.

She yanked open the door and slammed it behind her, fuming as she reached his desk.

Pierce looked up at her from the document he was reading, “What can I do for you?”

“Stand up,” Kayla said in a calm voice.

Pierce frowned and got to his feet, “What’s this all about?”

Kayla’s hand curled into a fist and she slammed it hard into Pierce’s face. She could feel his nose give way under her knuckles, and his glasses snapped in two. As he staggered back, Kayla snarled, “You almost got my daughter killed.”

As Pierce clutched at his bleeding nose, he said, “Your _what_?”

“Did I stutter?” Kayla demanded. “That beast stabbed her, beat her…he almost killed her. On _your_ orders.”

“You…you have kids?” Pierce was shocked. “The Howlett twins are _yours?_ ”

“Damn straight.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Pierce asked.

Kayla gave a small smirk, then whipped her bare hand out, grabbing hold of Pierce’s jaw, covering his mouth as she snarled, “Because I wanted you to know _why_ I’m doing this.” She tightened her grip, and said in a calm voice, “I don’t want you to go near her _ever_ again. You see her in SHIELD, you turn the other way. You will not meet with her, or even acknowledge she was here. I don’t even want you _breathing_ in her presence. You will forget she was ever here, and that this conversation ever happened.” She took a breath, “Now… _sleep._ I’ll get you when you’re needed.”

Pierce’s eyes drooped shut, and he dropped back into his desk chair.

Kayla let go, and his head landed with a _thud_ on his desk. She headed for the door, leaving him and his broken nose to bleed over the paperwork.

 

* * *

 

They’d been wiping and re-freezing the assets while Cassidy had been unconscious. The only one that hadn’t been part of the process had been Barnes, and that was because he refused to leave her side.

Separating the two wouldn’t be easy…and she couldn’t imagine that Barnes would go quietly this time.

She was currently kicking herself. She’d let her need to get to know Cassidy override her common sense when it came to the Asset – the Asset was a weapon and needed to be treated as such. Anytime it remembered too much it went back in the chair to be wiped – that was the way it had been for decades, and it wasn’t going to change any time soon.

She brought a few techs and guards with her – she knew the Asset wouldn’t go back easily, especially now that he remembered what was going to happen. The programming was gone, it had been erased when Kayla gave him back his memories.

The Asset could be reprogrammed. It would be difficult, but it could be done. They’d done it back in 1966, they could do it again now.

Cassidy however…that would be difficult. Kayla knew her powers didn’t work on Logan or Victor, not that she’d tried very hard with Logan, but Victor had simply smirked and told her it wasn’t working the last time she’d tried. And with her healing ability, Kayla wasn’t even sure if _that_ method would last either…the only thing she was sure would work was an adamantium bullet to the brain.

Not that she’d _ever_ be tempted to employ that method, but after seeing what would happen when Cassidy’s spinal cord was severed, she knew there was a near hundred percent chance Cassidy wouldn’t be coming back from that type of injury.

Her boots clicked on the floor as she marched with her Hydra cavalry toward the room in Medical where Cassidy was residing.

She stepped into the room, taking in the sight before her.

Cassidy was still seated on the side of the bed, although she had her thighs wrapped around the Asset’s hips, with her head tucked into the crook of his neck; eyes shut with a small smile on her face. The Asset had his arms around her, hugging her against his chest, his silver hand running up and down her back as he held her. His eyes were shut as well, giving the idea the presence of each other was soothing to whatever was bothering them.

Kayla almost felt bad for interrupting the near-nauseatingly sweet sight as she cleared her throat, “ _Soldat…_ we need you.”

“No…” Cassidy whimpered into his neck, her grip tightening around him.

“Cassidy—”

She lifted her head and tears were rolling down her cheeks as she sat straighter and looked up at the Asset as she whispered, “Stay with me…please?”

He gave her a weak smile in return, and wiped her tears away with his flesh thumb, “I can’t…not yet Cassidy.”

Cassidy gave a nod and pressed a kiss to his hand as she said, “Then you’d better come back to me James.”

Watching the two of them had Kayla seriously questioning herself. This was the Asset…but…Cassidy was attached to him. Cassidy already hated her for leaving, for abandoning the twins for Hydra…could she really go through with this?

As the Asset helped her back into bed, he said, “Get some rest Baby-Doll.”

Cassidy’s cheeks turned red under the bruises, “God I haven’t heard anything like that in… _years._ ”

“And yet you still blush every time,” The Asset said, pressing a kiss to her forehead, “You’re adorable, you know that?”

“It’s been said,” Cassidy told him, shifting into a comfortable position under her blanket. She turned onto her side and tucked the pillow beneath her head, eyes already falling shut.

The Asset quirked a small smile in her direction and turned back toward Kayla, face dropping into a blank stare as their eyes met.

He followed her into the hallway, and she shut the door behind them. They walked a few feet away from the door before Kayla stopped him and folded her arms as she asked, “You know what’s going to happen next, right?”

The Asset cocked his head, “I go back to my cell?”

“Not quite.”

The Asset’s face went white as he saw the lab coats. As the guards marched up behind them, he asked, “Now?”

“Yes, now,” Kayla nodded.

The Asset gave a nod, then bolted for Cassidy’s door.

The guards were on him first, reaching for his arms as his flesh hand closed around the doorknob.

The Asset swung his fists, catching two of the guards, knocking them both into the wall behind him. He kicked at another, sending him flying and knocking the lab coats off their feet.

Kayla and the lab coats had been armed with tranquilizer guns, the drug inside enough to take down the Asset in one fell swoop. But the man was moving so much Kayla couldn’t get a decent shot, and the lab coats were scrambling trying to disentangle themselves from the guard.             

The commotion brought more guards running, and one managed to hit the Asset with a stun baton, jabbing it into his side and causing a loud howl of pain as the electricity went through him.

That was when the door went flying open – no, not the door, a chunk went sliding across the floor and into the guard with the baton, knocking him away from the Asset.

The jolt stunned the soldier, and he dropped to the ground.

Cassidy wasted no time, she aimed kick into the nearest guard, knocking him into two others. Her claws slid out, gleaming in the dim light of the hallway, slashing at anything that was within arm’s reach. If she caught the glimpse of a weapon her claws cut through it, sometimes taking a few fingers with it, in some cases limbs.

It only lasted seconds. The hallway was littered with bodies, and Cassidy’s simple hospital gown was splattered with blood, along with her claws…there was even a few droplets on her face.

Her chest was heaving, and she wiped the claws on her gown before retracting them. She stood before the fallen soldier and threw a hateful glare at Kayla as she hissed, _“Plus jamais.”_

_“Je suis désolé chérie,”_ Kayla told her, and fired the tranquilizer dart.

Cassidy gave a grunt as the dart hit her in the stomach, and she just had time to pull it out before her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell to the floor.

 

* * *

 

Kayla stood at the window in her office, watching the procedure be set up.

They’d had to restrain the Asset, once he’d gotten his strength back, he’d continued to try and fight them…she’d assumed right he wouldn’t go back under so easily this time.

Pinching at the bridge of her nose Kayla gave a sigh of frustration – none of them knew the connection between the Asset and Cassidy was so strong, but it shouldn’t have surprised her. Barnes and Cassidy had fought together during World War Two, it made sense they’d had some sort of relationship.

She turned on her heel when groan came from across the room. Cassidy was laying on a sofa, she’d had her moved there after the medics had cleaned her up, even got her changed into some scrubs instead of the gown they’d put her in earlier. She looked extremely groggy and was moving very slowly as she sat up, clutching the armrest with one hand and rubbing at her eyes with the other. “What the hell…?”

“The spine injury affected your healing…also makes it really easy to tranquilize you,” Kayla explained in a flat tone. “So, what exactly was your relationship with Barnes?”

Cassidy looked over at her, slowly registering her presence in the room. “I’m sorry, what?”

“You said he was your friend…that he was family to you,” Kayla told her. “Clearly meant a lot more than that based on what I saw.”

Cassidy gave a sigh as she seemed to completely slump over, and in a defeated voice said, “We grew up together.”

Kayla’s eyebrows rose, surprise coloring her features as she asked, “What?”

Her elbow was resting on the armrest as she snapped, “Did I stutter?” When she caught the glare, Kayla was giving her she said, “No, seriously…I can barely feel my own hand on my face. Thank you for that by the way…I had a _killer_ headache earlier. But again, did I stutter?”

“No…”

“Good…” Cassidy gave a groan as she tried to stretch, moving sluggishly as she made the attempts. “We moved to Brooklyn when we were six. Shortly after…we met these two idiots, Steven Grant Rogers and James Buchannan Barnes…” She slumped backward on the sofa as she added, “He and Ryder served in the Hundred and Seventh, Barnes a Sergeant and Ryder the Corporal.”

“Yes, I remember,” Kayla said. “As I recall he let Barnes get dragged away by Zola’s men.”

Cassidy’s eyes narrowed as she glared, “Ryder would _never_ have done that.”

“I was _there_ , Cassidy,” Kayla told her. “When Barnes collapsed Ryder turned his back and disappeared into the crowd!”

“Ryder tried to protect him! He told me so!”

“Then your brother lied to you.”

“Well then he fits right in with this family,” Cassidy scowled. “You lied to us, Dad lied to us…makes sense that Ryder would lie too…but that means you _also_ left my friend to rot on a gurney while you and the rest of the Hydra mooks ran for the hills.” She gave a golf-clap, “Bravo.”

Kayla gave an eyeroll and shook her head, turning back to the plate glass window. “This was a bad idea…you’re going back to SHIELD.”

“And what about…?” Cassidy stopped herself before saying the name.

“The Asset is being reprogrammed,” Kayla said matter-of-factly, “His memories erased, and—”

“No!” Cassidy cried out, and Kayla turned around to see her daughter struggling to get to her feet. “Please, don’t do it!”

Kayla frowned, and was legitimately confused when she asked, “What?”

“Please…don’t hurt him,” Cassidy finally got to her feet, walking over to her on shaky legs. “Don’t…”

“Cassidy, it needs to be done—”

“No…no it doesn’t, please…just…” She stumbled into Kayla’s arms, gripping the sleeves of her shirt tightly.

Kayla was shocked, “Are you… _begging_?”

Tears filled blue-green eyes as her head drooped. Her voice was barely a whisper as she sobbed, “Please…please don’t take him away again.”

Kayla was speechless. This same girl had lashed out anyone that dared look at Barnes in a threatening manner mere hours before…but now apparently a floodgate had been opened because Cassidy looked up at her and started whimpering, “Please…I lost him once already…I can’t do it again. Please…let me take him with me…please…”

“Cassidy—”

“You wanted to know who Bucky was, right?” Cassidy sniffled, and took a step back, wiping at her cheeks. Tears just continued to roll as she said, “Bucky is the only man I’ve ever loved…emotionally…physically…when Steve told me he’d fallen during that mission…” she gave a small sob as she said, “I didn’t know what to do…I just wanted everything to stop…”

Kayla looked out to the room below, “Cassidy—”

“Please…don’t take him away from me again…I beg you,” Cassidy cried out. “I can’t lose him again…it was hard enough already back in forty-five…I can’t do it again…please, just let him come with me.”

“I can’t, Cassidy, I’m sorry,” Kayla said. “He’s the Asset—”

“No…no, you know that’s not true!” Cassidy sobbed, “His name is James Buchannan Barnes…he was a Sergeant in the US Army during World War Two…he’s Bucky…he’s my Bucky…” She turned toward the window, looking down into the room below. “What…what’s going on down there?”

Kayla watched as the Asset was forced into the chair, “I told you, his memories are being erased.”

“N-no…” Cassidy whimpered, as she watched one of the technicians forced the rubber mouthpiece into the Asset’s mouth. “Don’t take him away again…”

It was a sight that broke Kayla’s heart. As the process started, and the Asset began screaming, so did Cassidy. She pressed her hands against the glass along with her forehead and just started sobbing brokenly – no words just hoarse, loud sobs.

After a few moments she slid down to the floor, silent tears still rolling down her cheeks. She hugged her knees to her chest, shoulders still shaking.

“Cassidy…” Kayla whispered, grabbing hold of one of Cassidy’s hands.

Her daughter looked up at her, and Kayla felt if looks could kill she would be a pile of ash right about now. “I will _never_ forgive you for this.”

Kayla gave a weak chuckle, as she grabbed her other hand, “Don’t worry, sweetheart…you won’t remember any of this anyway…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still don't speak French, taking the translation from Bing Translator for this one:  
> Plus jamais: Never again  
> Je suis désolé chérie: I'm sorry darling (it was supposed to say I'm sorry sweetheart)


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! It’s another update!  
> Something we don’t get to see very often in this series: Dad Logan, with brief appearances from Victor Creed and Nick Fury – I hope I did them justice.   
> And as always, constructive criticism is always appreciated.

* * *

Kayla took a deep breath as she waited…and bundled her coat up higher on her neck.

The rooftop she’d requested the meeting on was rather cold – the temperature unusually low for this time of year, and the bitter wind that was blowing didn’t help matters.

“I should’ve known you’d turn up someday,” A gruff voice spoke up.

Kayla didn’t even turn to face him, “You’re late.”

“Plane was delayed…and I wouldn’t take the jet,” Logan told her, walking up to the railing she stood near and pulled his hands from his pockets, chomping a cigar in his mouth and pausing to light it.

“It’s not a secret you work at that school, Logan,” Kayla pointed out.

“Yeah but I also wasn’t too sure of what I was walkin’ into,” Logan snapped, taking a few puffs off the cigar. “And I wasn’t takin’ any of the students or the rest of my team into danger like that.”

“I wouldn’t hurt you.”

Logan simply glared at her. He took a few more puffs before he asked, “Where’s Case?”

“She’s safe…we’ve got her in a warehouse. As soon as I give the order the guards will disappear, and you can go in and grab her. No questions asked.”

“You say that, but I’ve got about ten million questions of my own.”

Kayla sighed, and gripped the railing, “It wasn’t my idea, Logan. I didn’t know she was a target until they brought her into the facility.”

“How bad is she?”

“She’s healing…looks a lot better than when this first happened,” Kayla sighed and wrapped her arms around herself, “We almost lost her, Logan.”

“We?” Logan asked. “We…no _we_ didn’t almost lose her. You lost any right you had to call her your daughter the day you walked away!”

“I thought it was for the best!”

“Really? For the best?” Logan demanded. “What part of this was ‘for the best’? Huh? Case and Ryder growing up without their mother? Me trying to help Ryder control the hypnosis without knowing _anything_ about it to help. Or, how about Case and her insomnia…becoming afraid we’d disappear in the middle of the night, how ‘bout that?”                

“And what was I supposed to do? You told me if I was leaving to stay gone! So that’s what I did!”

“Because I thought that if you tried coming back afterward then you’d lead Hydra directly to our doorstep! And what were you supposed to do? The idea was to stick around! We didn’t know what they knew or how much. We had some _rumors_ that _maybe_ they knew where you were…we could’ve figured out _something!_ They’re our children, Kayla! You’re supposed to think of _their_ best interests, not yours!”

Kayla flinched at that. With everything she’d just done… _I guess I’m still doing that, aren’t I?_

Logan gave a huff before he added, “You couldn’t even be bothered to show your face when they were considered dead.”

A tear rolled down Kayla’s cheek as she whispered, “I’m sorry, Logan.”

Logan simply gave a grunt before going back to his cigar.

Kayla shifted on her feet, then asked, “Did you know Sergeant James Barnes?”

“Barnes…” Logan repeated. “What about him?”

“He…he came up. Afterall, apparently Cassidy was there in the factory when Captain America freed the troops.”

“Oh yes, that I remember.”

“ _You_ knew?”

“Victor and I had reenlisted…heard the rumors, and the kids confirmed it.”

Kayla frowned as she stared out at the blinking lights of the city below, before asking, “Did you know Cassidy was in love with him?”

Logan gave a bark of laughter, “Wow Kayla…you’re about eighty years too late for that party.”

“What?”

With another chuckle he explained, “For as long as Case has been interested in boys, she’s always had a soft spot for Barnes. With the way those two looked at each other, I was expecting them to announce their engagement after they returned from the war.”

“They were that serious?”

“Well…no…I don’t really know,” Logan admitted. “We’ve never gotten a clear answer on that. She’d stare at him with this dreamy look on her face when he wasn’t paying attention, and he’d check her out when she wasn’t looking his way. Those two danced around each other for so long we had bets going on for when they actually got together.”

“So, it was mutual?”

“Painfully so…except for the two of them,” Logan rolled his eyes. “One of the worst days of my life, learning Bucky was killed in action and Case, Ryder, and Steve were missing.”

“Cassidy mentioned they grew up together.”

“Oh yeah…God were they a handful sometimes,” He gave a small smirk as he pulled the cigar away from his mouth, “And their parents too…I can still hear Sarah Rogers giving me grief over smoking these things, bad for my health and all that bullshit.” He gave a sigh again as he put the cigar back to his mouth, “Another one, gone too soon.”

“You and she were close?” Kayla asked, her back straightening.

Logan laughed again, “Sarah was a friend…a single mother, she’d lost her husband to mustard gas during World War One…and with all the trouble Steve and Case caused growing up, along with Ryder and Bucky trying to keep them _out_ of it…made for an interesting friendship to say the least.”

“So, you and her never…?”

“With Sarah? No,” Logan shook his head. “Pretty little thing but not my type. Plus, she didn’t like that I smoked cigars period, but especially gave me shit if I ever thought to light up around the kids. She was also there if the kids needed a mother figure to talk to.” He finally stamped out the cigar and tossed it away, “So how does this work? If I’m going to have an awkward conversation about all this, I think you should be there to defend yourself.”

“I’m not going anywhere…you and Cassidy are going back to the States alone.”

Logan blinked at her, “You’re kidding me.”

“Logan, I can’t break my cover,” Kayla told him. “You don’t understand what I’ve been through with all this—”

“You? What _you’ve_ been through?” Logan demanded angrily.

_Great, we’re back to this,_ Kayla sighed, “That’s not what I meant, Logan—”

“Case and Ryder deserve to know the truth!”

“Cassidy is better off not knowing about that facility!”

“I think she’s going to know something’s amiss when she sets off every metal detector she goes through and attracts every magnet on the fridge!”

“Obviously she can know _some_ things…but the finer details, they need to stay forgotten.”

Logan blinked at her, “You did something to her…didn’t you?”

“Logan, it’s not what it sounds like—”

“What did you do to her?”

Kayla sighed, “I used my…” She wiggled the fingers of her left hand, “I planted a suggestion…she’ll remember the fusion, but I made her forget what details I could, and glossed over a few others.”

Logan blinked at her, “How the hell could you do that?”

“There’s things there that she needs to forget exist.”

“She’s your _daughter!_ ”

“And you pointed out I lost the right to call her that when I walked away,” Kayla reminded him. “I did what I had to do.”

“Case isn’t going to fall for a hypnotic suggestion…she’s too strong willed for that.”

“I guess we’ll see then, huh?”

Logan folded his arms across his chest and shook his head, huffing out a humorless laugh as he said, “Afterall these years…you’re still the Trickster, aren’t you?”

“Logan…I…”

“Where is she?”

 

* * *

 

_“Case?”_

Case gave a groan, wanting to stay asleep.

_“Case…can you hear me?”_

“I can hear you just fine…now let me sleep!”

_“No can do, Shorty…you need to wake up,”_ the speaker gave a weak chuckle.

Case slowly lifted her heavy eyelids, and blearily took in her surroundings. She recognized the plain white walls of the SHIELD medical facility and tried to sit up.

“You shouldn’t do that…they said you have a spinal cord injury,” Ryder said from her right. “You’ve got a huge bruise right between your shoulders…and there’s a large scar there too. Fading fast, but it’s still there.”

“What happened to me?” Case rasped.

“We were kind of hoping you could tell us,” Steve said from her left. “Your dad said he got a message on where to find you…but it was just an empty warehouse with a bed.”

“No…that’s not…” She frowned as Ryder helped her into a sitting position, trying to remember. “I…”

“Do you remember anything?” Ryder asked.

Case closed her eyes, trying to remember. “Last thing I remember is…my apartment. I walked in…opened Steve’s gift for me…” The next flash made Case’s breathing pick up, “Oh God…”

“What?” Ryder sounded as scared as Case felt.

Case lifted her hands and curled them into fists. Tears were starting to fill her eyes as she ejected her claws.

Gone were the pearly white claws she’d had before she’d been taken. They had the same shape but were now covered in gleaming silver metal.

“Case…” Ryder began.

Case retracted the claws and stared at the holes that weren’t healing right away. She looked at the faded bruises on her arms, tears rolling down her cheeks as she asked, “What happened to me?”

“We don’t know, but we’re gonna find out, okay?” Ryder asked, eyes going to Steve who was searching the nearby trays for some gauze to cover her knuckles.

A hollow feeling started to fill her…her memories were fuzzy, if they were even there at all…but it was the one she felt in her chest when they were pulled out of the ice. That empty, lost feeling, and she said, “He’s gone…”

“Who’s gone?” Steve asked, gently taking one of her hands in his, tending to the knuckles on her right hand.

“I…” Case tried to focus, but all she could remember was walking into her apartment, needles, then nothing. When Steve let go of her right hand, she pressed it against her mouth as she started sobbing, “I don’t remember!”

Unseen by Case, Logan Howlett was standing in the doorway, arms folded across his chest as he watched the scene unfold. Steve’s arms went around Case as she started sobbing, trying to comfort his friend the best he could. Ryder went to Case’s other hand to tend to the marks left by the claws.

It broke his heart to see Case so upset, and when Ryder gave him a hand signal that they had it covered for now, Logan ducked out of the door.

He walked into the hallway and was heading out to the waiting room as he pulled out his cell phone and dialed the last number that contacted him.

_“We’re sorry. The number you have dialed is not in service. Please hang up and try your call again.”_

With a loud roar of anger, Logan reared back and hurled the device at the wall, taking little pleasure in watching it shatter.

“You really should learn to control your temper, Jimmy,” another voice said, and Logan could hear the smirk in his voice.

“Not now Victor,” Logan growled. He sank down onto one of the couches, pinching at the bridge of his nose.

“How is she?”

“About as well as can be expected after getting fused with adamantium along with getting her head screwed with,” Logan admitted.

“Shit…”

“They don’t know the truth, do they?”

“Jesus Fury where the hell did you come from?” Victor snapped at the man.

“I’m a ninja,” Fury said in a deadpan voice, before turning his attention to Logan. “About Silverfox…they don’t know.”

“What makes you say that?” Logan asked him.

“Answers like that for starters,” Fury said, walking over to Logan, his black trench coat billowing around his legs. “And the fact that Ryder himself told me their mother died years ago.”             

“What was I gonna tell them, Nick?” Logan asked. “That their mother abandoned them for an organization that was hell-bent on taking control of the world?”

“They came to the conclusion she was dead on their own,” Victor explained. “Jimmy here’s just…never explained what happened.”

“Wow…” Fury said quietly, his one visible eyebrow going up.

“Like you’re one to judge,” Logan rolled his eyes.

“We’re not talking about me though, Howlett, we’re talking about you,” Fury pointed out.

“Look, we can play the ‘you should have told them sooner’ game later but for now I’m kinda worried about my kid, Fury!” Logan snapped at him.

“How is she?”

“Last I saw she was having a breakdown,” Logan said, running a hand through his hair next. “She knows she lost something, or someone…but has no memory of it. I assumed it wouldn’t hold but…”

“You think Kayla actually did it?” Victor asked.

“Looks like it…I was trying to call her to see if…” Logan trailed off and pinched at his nose again. “She told me she put a suggestion in her head…blurred some things and erased others. Just enough for Case to remember the fusion, but that was it.”

“I can run a search for her—”

“Don’t bother she’s already underground,” Victor cut Fury off. “I’ll keep an ear to the ground, see if she turns up again.”

“Do you know what they were doing out there?” Logan asked. “Kayla had me grab her from Ulaanbaatar, but I doubt that’s where they kept her.”

Victor gave a huff, “This one here,” He bobbed his head at Fury, “Has had me keeping tabs on Magneto and his merry band of misfits. Haven’t had much time to keep an eye on your ex.”

“You think she might’ve done something more to Case?” Fury then asked.

“I don’t think she planted anything that would force Case to secretly be loyal to Hydra if that’s what you’re thinking…even Kayla has her standards,” Logan admitted. “I’m just…not sure if she did anything else either.”

“We’ll do everything we can to try and investigate,” Fury said. “If Hydra’s going to be a more active threat, we need to be prepared for anything.”

“I’m also gonna talk to Chuck,” Logan said. “Kayla mentioned they had their eye on the school…with the fiasco Cassidy had created she said she didn’t know if anything would come of it—”

“Yeah and she also said she could keep Ryder and Case safe from Hydra,” Victor pointed out. “Not much Kayla can do if they want to storm the school.”

“Yeah,” Logan agreed, and got to his feet. “I’m gonna go check on her.”

“You get the kid taken care of,” Victor said as Logan walked toward the doorway, “We’ve got the rest.”

Logan sighed and his shoulders slumped once he was out of sight. He was supposed to protect his children…and right under his nose, Case had gotten kidnapped by Hydra.

When he reached the room, he found the trio in an awkward group hug – Steve had his arm across Case’s chest and another around her shoulders on her left with Ryder in a similar position on her right. Case was sitting with her knees tucked to her chest, both her arms and legs keeping an arm of both men tight against her. All three seemed to be staring off into the space at the foot of the hospital bed, none of them saying a word.

He cocked an eyebrow and asked, “Nobody’s brave enough to break the hold?”

Three sets of eyes turned toward him, and Ryder asked, “You good Shorty?”

Case seemed to mull that one over, “For now at least…” she lowered her arms and legs, and Steve and Ryder got to their feet, stretching the kinks out of their muscles. “Can I…uh…?”

“Hey, Ryder, I’m really thirsty, let’s hit the cafeteria,” Steve said suddenly.

“What?” Ryder asked, and Steve flashed him a pointed look. “Oh right…yeah, you know, I heard they’re selling sushi down there now…”

“Really?” Steve asked as the two disappeared through the door.

Logan sat down in one of the empty chairs by the bed, a little stunned by the performance he just saw, “Sushi, really?”

“Yeah I can’t explain that one either,” Case admitted.

“Has your brother been smoking anything recently?”

“Not to my knowledge…but…I’ve been kinda outta the loop,” Case pointed out.

“Right…” Logan chewed on his lip, “How you feelin’ bub?”           

Case scrubbed at her puffy cheeks, “I dunno…I mean…do you remember anything from when it happened to you?”

Logan shook his head, “Not…not really. A few flashes here and there. A glass tank, I wanted new tags…it’s when I adopted the title ‘Wolverine’.”

Case gave a thoughtful nod, then chewed on her lip before saying, “I feel…heavy. I don’t know if it’s emotional or…”

“It takes some getting used to,” Logan told her. “I don’t know about you, but I’ve noticed I run a little hotter in the summer and a little colder in the winter. You’re gonna want to be careful when sitting down, at least until you get used to the…new you.”

“Right…”

“And that goes for furniture _and_ vehicles,” Logan added. “You don’t want to go to sit on Sirius and snap it in half.”

Case’s cheeks flushed red, “Who told you about that?”

“Please, Case, I’ve been in the modern world a little longer than you have,” Logan chuckled. “I’m familiar with the world of _Harry Potter_ …and you name things. Mainly though…I took a guess. I’m just glad you didn’t call your bike Nina.”

“Gotta admit I did toy around with that name for a bit,” Case admitted. “But Nina the Ninja just seemed…off. Sirius Black seemed more fitting…he’s my favorite character _and_ he rides a motorcycle…”

“How far have you gotten by the way?”

Case frowned thoughtfully, “Uh…I don’t remember…I think I was still working on _Goblet of Fire…_ why?”

“No reason,” Logan said quickly. He cleared his throat as he added, “Also…you might want to avoid scales for a while…or you’ll wanna take a sedative before you look.”

“Never had a problem with my weight…”

“Good because it’s also going to change with the adamantium. And you’ll also want to be careful about magnets…”

“Magnets?”

“The adamantium attracts them…Summers attached one to my forehead once that said, ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy’.”

Case gave a snort at that, and a small smile quirked her lips.

Logan quirked a smile of his own, “You’re gonna be okay kid.”

“You gonna stick a magnet to my forehead if I’m not?”

“I might.”

Case shook her head and relaxed against her pillows. “Hey Dad?”

“Yeah?”

“Does Sirius ever get proven innocent?”

“Er…you know what? I think Rowling tells it best, you’ll find out soon enough.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be the final chapter – sort of an epilogue/end credits scene if you will. That being said, I hope you enjoyed the latest installment.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Chapter Fifteen, the sort of end credits scene of “I’d Rather Laugh with the Sinners than Cry with the Saints”  
> And don’t worry, it’s not the end of the series, just this story. We’ve still got a whole lot more ground to cover – does Bucky come back? Will things work out between him and Case? And…will Ryder ever tell Natasha how he feels?  
> Also, if you haven’t already, you might want to check out “The Misadventures of Punk, Jerk, Shorty, and Hypno-Hands”…there may or may not be some foreshadowing bits in there, and more to come.  
> Constructive criticism is always appreciated, and I hope you enjoy the chapter.

* * *

**_You might have heard I run with a dangerous crowd_ **   
**_We ain’t too pretty we ain’t too proud_ **   
**_We might be laughing a bit too loud_ **   
**_Aw but that never hurt no one_ **

“Ah, Billy Joel at his finest,” Tony Stark said as the elevator doors opened with a quiet hiss. He walked into the apartment with a stack of DVD cases in his hand. “This song, right here, should be our theme song!”

“I’ll alert the media,” Case didn’t even look up from the book she was reading.

“There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Tony added, plopping down on the couch next to her.

“Tony you have an AI that runs the entire building…all you had to do was ask him.”

“It’s called an ice breaker Howlett…although I am a little surprised, usually by now you’re working your way through Queen’s Platinum Collection.”

“Why would I want to listen to Queen? They’re a bunch of idiots.”

“A bunch of…Howlett, are you feeling okay?”

“What do you want, Stark?” Case asked in a curt tone as she turned the page in her book.

Tony looked over her shoulder, “Why are you reading _Goblet of Fire_?”

“Because I enjoy _Harry Potter,_ Tony, you know that.”

“Yeah, I know,” Tony agreed, “You named your bike Sirius Black.”

“Does everyone know about that?” Case demanded, looking up at the billionaire with a blush on her face, “I thought that I kept that a secret!”

_“I do apologize, Miss Case,”_ Jarvis said sincerely, _“Sir was in the garage when you parked and said goodnight to your bike, calling it by name.”_

Case’s face went darker, “Thanks Jarivs…and anyway, Harry just suck into the Prefect’s bathroom and I’d kinda like to find out what’s in that golden egg.”

“But you _do_ know what happens,” Tony frowned, “You finished the book three weeks ago. You were a few chapters into _Order of the Phoenix_ when you were at the party…you were telling me how you thought Walburga Black was a bitch.”

“But…I don’t remember finishing _Goblet of Fire_ ,” Case frowned.

“But you did…you said it would’ve driven you crazy if you’d had to wait as long as the rest of us did to find out what happened next,” Tony’s frown deepened. “Never mind, we’ll cross that bridge later. I came up here bearing gifts…the bottles were just part _one_ of your gift, thought you’d want something to watch as you’re enjoying those amazing beverages.”

“Uh…about one of those bottles, I think—”         

“No, I know, one of them got smashed that night,” Tony shrugged it off. “Doesn’t matter…I wanted to make sure you got something you could enjoy at any time.”

Case frowned, placing a book marker in the pages and putting the thick tome on her coffee table. “Okay…”

“And I’m sorry they’re not wrapped…I uh…I was down in the lab a lot…had Jarvis running through every eye in the sky he could trying to find you…”

Case smiled at him, “Thanks Tony…and thank you Jarvis.”

_“You’re welcome Miss Case.”_

Tony gave a sheepish grin before he cleared his throat, “And…so…I thought maybe we could take the opportunity to break one of my rules and start…” he tapped each case as he searched, “Here. This one.”

Case frowned thoughtfully and took the case, _“Fast and Furious?”_

“Yeah…technically you _should_ watch _Tokyo Drift_ before that one, but since there’s no Brian O’Conner in that one—”

“Who?”

Tony stopped mid-sentence. “Brian O’Conner…?”

“Yeah, who’s that?” Case asked, looking at the object in her hand.

“He’s…he’s one of the main characters in _The Fast and The Furious…_ ”

“Okay…” Case said slowly, like it didn’t ring a bell.

“You know…with the fast cars, street racing, crooked cops…the ‘Brian O’Conner School of Driving’?”

“You keep saying that name like that should mean something,” Case sighed, handing the DVD back to him, “Look, Tony…it’s probably an interesting story but it doesn’t sound like my kind of movie.”

“Jarvis, pause Billy for a moment,” Tony said, and instantly the song cut off. “You’re kidding me, right?”

“Nope,” Case shook her head, “I don’t know anyone by the name of ‘Brian O’Conner’—”

“He’s fictional…” Tony frowned.

“Thanks anyway, Tony, but I think—”

“Oh no,” Tony shook his head. “Look, I don’t know what happened in there that resulted in this…I mean it’s one thing to erase whatever _that_ was…taking Queen away from you was bad enough, at least they left _Harry Potter…_ but I’m not letting you forget about Brian O’Conner! No way! Jarvis, clear my schedule, we need to have a movie marathon—”

_“Sir, I’m sorry but you are due to a dinner reservation with Miss Potts later this evening,”_ Jarvis informed him. _“I’m afraid it will have to simply be a double feature if you’re going to make it on time.”_

“Perfect, considering the second one will drive my point home,” Tony said with a grin.

“Are you alright Stark?” Case asked.

“I’m perfectly fine, it’s _you_ that’s off!”

“Thanks…” Case frowned.

“So, our plan for the afternoon is to watch the first two movies, then you’re coming back up here and listening to Queen’s Platinum Collection—”

“I don’t _like_ Queen Tony—”

_“If I may interject, Miss Case,”_ Jarvis interrupted. _“Being attached to the Tower’s security and computer systems, I have access to your browser history. Per privacy restrictions and protocols, I am not at liberty to divulge all details, I want to confirm your most searched for video is entitled: Queen Live Aid Nineteen Eighty-Five Hammer to Fall.”_

Case blinked at the ceiling, then looked at Tony with tears in her eyes, “So you said I liked these…fast and furious movies?”

“And Brian O’Conner, yeah,” Tony nodded. “You thought Paul Walker looks good in a towel.”

Tears rolled down her cheeks, “Okay…”

“And we’re gonna do the double feature on my floor because I have booze,” Tony added.

“Thank you.”

“And before that we’re gonna finish listening to Billy Joel,” Tony finished.

“Good plan,” Case nodded, giving a sniffle as she wiped her cheeks.

“Jarvis?”

_“As you wish, Sir.”_

As the song resumed, Case frowned thoughtfully, “You really think this should be our theme song?”

Tony mulled that over, “I dunno…maybe the group. I’ve already got my own theme song,” He added with a grin.

“Yeah, yeah, Iron Man,” Case rolled her eyes, and relaxed into the cushions of her couch, stretching out and propping her bare feet on the coffee table. As Tony went to mimic her position, she added, “Shoes off first.”

“Never mind,” Tony mumbled as he relaxed into the cushions and listened to the music.

_**They say there’s a heaven for those who will wait** _   
_**Some say it’s better, but I say it ain’t** _   
_**I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints** _   
_**The sinners are much more fun** _

_**You know that only the good die young** _   
_**Whoa, whoa, baby** _   
_**I tell ya, only the good die young** _   
_**Only the good die young** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that’s a wrap…for now. I don’t have a permanent title for the next story yet, but I will get it posted as soon as possible.  
> I also don’t own any rites to any of the previously mentioned book series, songs, or movie franchises, I’m just borrowing them to apply some of my own nerdiness to the plot.


End file.
